


The Parental Reconfiguration

by Trista_zevkia



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Discussion of Abortion, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Forced Pregnancy, Kid Fic, M/M, Meddling Kids, Multi, Sports, but since the first two chapters are from the kid's pov you know they were born, fun with science, matchmaker Sarek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-29
Updated: 2015-11-14
Packaged: 2018-04-23 22:54:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 36,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4895455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trista_zevkia/pseuds/Trista_zevkia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two kids at camp find out they have identical genetic structures. Oh, they are going to get to the bottom of this, even if it means going home with the wrong parent, bribing Bones into silence, and stopping a wedding. </p><p>Or: The Star Trek Parent Trap AU nobody was asking for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hello Mirror

Science Camp was something Sinead had been looking forward to for months. For two weeks in the summer, she’d get to live on Jupiter Station and geek out, as her Dad called it, to her heart’s content. Dad encouraged her interests, and made sure she always got the best educational opportunities, but his haunted eyes sucked some of the joy out of learning. He’d smile and laugh, but when she did something extra geeky, the smile wouldn’t reach his eyes. Bones would see this, and distract them both with something sarcastic or unexpected, but Sinead still saw it.

When she heard about this camp, two weeks off-world with some of the greatest scientific minds teaching classes, she’d toned down the science stuff of it. Dad was worried enough about her off planet, without knowing it was all about the science that made him sad for no reason. She certainly didn’t tell him that they’d based the cabin assignments on scholastic aptitude, so the learning could continue long into the night. Sinead was really looking forward to making friends who she could geek out with. 

With going to school in San Francisco, so close to the families of Starfleet, Sinead expected smarter people in her classes. Dad and Bones worked with Starfleet, so they had to live there, but Sinead secretly thought most of her classmates would wind up in red shirts if they made it into Starfleet, and she wasn’t talking about engineering. Would it be too much to expect a real friend? She knew lots of people, and was kind of popular, but she still felt like an outsider. 

Her Padd lead her to her assigned cabin in the deciduous biodome, and Sinead held her hand in front of the receiver. If the receiver was slow to acknowledge her or open the door, she didn’t notice, too busy wondering if the greatest friend of her life was just inside the door. It opened at long last, and a figure stood from where it was storing a bag under their bed. The figure turned to greet her, but neither expected what they saw. 

Sinead’s strange hair with the light roots that got darker to the ends was suddenly short, in some no-doubt practical bowl cut. This cut also let the pointed tips of her ears stick out, visibly announcing she wasn’t fully human. Her eyebrows had always slanted upwards, but not so bad that they didn’t fall into the human normal range. This bowl cut made them look even sharper and made her hazel eyes shine. It was as if she’d been forced into Vulcan attire, instead of her jeans and thermal shirts. 

The strange mirror was the first to break the silence. “Fascinating.” 

“You say that like it’s a complete sentence.” Sinead snapped back, before remembering how much trouble that temper got her into. “Sorry, I’m a little surprised.” 

“That is an adequate response for coming across a doppelganger.” 

“Have you heard of people meeting their doubles before?” 

“Not outside of fictional literature, but I know of no other phenomenon that could explain this.” 

“My name is Sinead Kirk, I’m from San Francisco, Earth.” 

“I am T’Amanda, from London, England, Earth. My doctor calls me Tammy, or Tam, either is an acceptable nickname.” 

Sinead couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. For all this girl seemed a face-stealing Vulcan, Sinead felt they were kindred spirits. “It’s a great pleasure to meet you, Tam.” 

Tam bit at her lip to stop a returning smile, and gestured to the cabin. “Since I was first to arrive, I took the bed with the most early morning light. Is this acceptable?” 

“Absolutely! I’m not a morning person, so you can have all the morning light.” Sinead moved the bed nearest Tam, and flopped her duffle on it. She already planned on putting her head nearest Tam’s head, for those late night conversations. “So why do you live in London, instead of New Vulcan?” 

“Father is the Vulcan Ambassador’s aide, and the Federation is headquartered in London since the attacks of Khan.” 

“Right, something about rebuilding the blast sight. Dad doesn’t like to talk about that, but Bones says it’s so not all the Starfleet’s eggs are in one basket.” 

“Clarify, please.” 

Sinead looked up with a grin, and started explaining why all the eggs in one basket can go wrong. By the time she unpacked her bedroll and toiletries bag, she’s gone on to explain that Bones is the grouchy old uncle who’s not related by blood. Tam absorbed it all with a fascinated look, and they barely notice when their two new cabin mates arrive. There are awkward explanations about them not actually being twins and have never met before, and then somebody mentioned the genetics lab in camp. The roommates notice that Tam and Sinead have matching looks of hidden excitement as they wait for the chance to use it. 

**J <3S <3B<3J**

Tam had insisted on getting permission for their little side project, though Sinead still looked for a way to sneak in after hours. Their genetics instructor, after sitting through the now standard declaration that they weren’t twins, had almost fallen over herself to let them use the equipment. Clearly, she wanted to know just what was going on here, though she did sneak away to an office off to the side while they waited on the results, to give them some privacy. 

The first results had come out, and without a word Tam and Sinead had replicated the experiment. Now, as they sat and waited for the second analysis, they struggled to find words. It was strange to suddenly find you were twins, but there were other things their young minds couldn’t explain. 

“Your father,” Tam started only to pause before continuing. “He did not have a sex change operation after your birth, did he?” 

“No. He was born male. He’s kind of famous, and the pics in my history books look just as male as he is now. But, from the questions, I’m guessing your dad wasn’t our mom.” 

“Negative. He is also famous, the first Vulcan-Human hybrid. Which only makes convergent evolution less likely of an explanation for our genetics.” 

“Yeah, I don’t think it’s a coincidence either.” Sinead nodded along. 

“Father encourages all my interests and helps me find answers to all my questions, except the few times I have asked about my mother.” 

“Dad shuts down. His face doesn’t change but something in his eyes kind of breaks my heart. Bones is also our doctor, not just a grumpy uncle, and the one time I asked him? He looked like he was going to cry, but instead he got mad, got in a fight with Dad, and disappeared for two weeks.” 

“You couldn’t hear what they were saying?” Tam shot up an eyebrow at this, probably wondering if her hearing was better than her twins’. 

“No, they know all about my super hearing, so they learned how to fight quiet a long time ago.” Sinead said, still trying to teach her eyebrows to move on command. 

“It is not super; we are well within normal Vulcan hearing parameters.” 

“Hey, our genetics defy the laws of the universe; why can’t we be superheroes?” 

Tam paused to consider Sinead’s words. “I find your logic to be sound.” 

Sinead laughed, and Tam was smiling back before she knew it. This time, when the machine announced they were a match, there was excitement in their eyes. 

When their genetics instructor put their data through some more advanced programs, to satisfy her own curiosity, she was disappointed. Her computer suddenly developed a nasty virus that managed to eat all the data about the kids before she could shut it down. That had to be a coincidence, right? 

**J <3S <3B<3J**

After Sinead fell asleep that night, Tam settled into the floor to meditate. There were emotions she needed to sort through, but this situation also fascinated the problem solver in her. Leonard always claimed she couldn’t let anything alone, always with that soft look in his eye. Tam had often thought about asking to practice her mind techniques on Leonard, but resisted because he was human. She was still learning control of her mental abilities, and it was customary to only practice with people who volunteered and had experience. 

Father was her primary teacher, and Grandfather occasionally would allow the mind touch. They were the only blood kin she had, but after hearing Sinead talk, Tam thought she could include Leonard as a member of her family; the grouchy uncle. Tam had learned that Father and Leonard had served together in Starfleet, but they did not like to talk of that time. 

Once, she had asked Leonard about her mother, and he had only sighed and changed the subject, as if he’d already fought with Father over it. Whenever she had asked Father, he had told her it was a discussion for another time. Grandfather had told her to ask Father. Tam had to work hard to dispel her frustration from the circular system. 

One time, after an annoying day at school, where she had been mocked for being a know-it-all ice-bitch, she had asked Father during a mind meld. Now, she reached for the memory of that encounter, purposely ignoring the shame she still felt for asking when she knew Father would be most vulnerable. When their minds were joined, and he was showing her how to disassociate memories from feelings, she had asked if he had done that to his memories of her mother. 

There had been an image of silver, surrounding a man of gold; gold hair, gold shirt, and a deep sorrow. It was quickly blocked from her, showing that Father had tried but been unable to disassociate emotions from the memory of that man. What he had to do with her mother, Tam had not been able to determine since the meld. At that time, she had sent regret and contriteness over their link. Tam had never asked again, and related her questions in the melds to the task at hand. 

Now though, Tam could consider her father from an outsider’s perspective. He was the Vulcan Ambassador’s Aide, allowing Grandfather to return to New Vulcan as he needed to. Nepotism had not influenced Grandfather’s decision, as it was Selek who suggested it when father retired from Starfleet. In Starfleet, Father had been an emanate scientist, the only being to ever decline admission into the prestigious Vulcan Science Academy. Father had doubted his abilities as an diplomate until Selek had assured him that he would be more productive than he knew. Her small family had all mourned Selek’s death, though no one would explain his connection to the family. 

Selek’s name had not been included on the family biography Tam had been assigned at the school she attended for the children of planetary delegates. Father insisted that she attend the school, no matter how much she was bullied, as Leonard called it, for the social participation. He brought in tutors to keep up with her interested in learning, but would not let her be taught by private tutors only, because she would need to learn to deal with “emotionally driven” beings. 

She had replied that she had Leonard for that, and Leonard had laughed heartily. Scotty had to explain the joke during her next excursion to his experimental engine laboratory in orbit around Venus. Scotty could not be distracted from his engines long enough to ask after her mother. Asking Sulu only caused him to switch between teaching her xenobotany and physical fitness. 

Tam, and Sinead, had been born approximately four months after the end of their mission to space; Tam had done that math on her own. Most of the people Father associated with outside of work were from the Federation or his time in Starfleet. It had long been obvious that her mother was someone Father knew in Starfleet, where he was a scientist with the best possible laboratory facilities. Leonard was also an excellent doctor, and Sinead’s dad had always been male. 

Tam was intrigued by the possibility that she was a result of a genetic experiment, but that did not explain why Sinead existed separately from her. Still, it presented a question that was sure to wake Sinead from her sleep induced fog. Sinead was not a morning person, but that was their greatest difference as far as Tam had found so far. 

She was also enjoying Sinead’s company far more than she thought was acceptable. Even before the genetic test, Sinead’s bright mind had pushed Tam to think in new ways and try new things. Tam did not want to remove this feeling, so she eased out of her meditation without doing so. She went to sleep and woke with a small smile on her face. 

When she woke, Tam knew she was the first to do so. She made ready for the day and read until the alarm went off. Her real question would probably wake Sinead up, but she did not want to ask in front of witnesses. Leonard had often told her that the emotional wellbeing of others must be considered. Father agreed with this assessment, though he only admitted it when Leonard had returned to his own home for the work week. 

The others got up at the first alarm tone, Sinead demanding a snooze. Sinead lingered in bed, and slowly began moving as she did every morning. Their cabin-mates would leave them alone, until Sinead and Tam had to hurry or miss breakfast altogether. As they walked toward the cafeteria, Tam asked her half-asleep friend. 

“Do you have a picture of your dad, preferably of him smiling?” 

“Any computer search of his name will get you that.” Sinead muttered, sounding remarkably like Leonard at that moment. 

“It would if you had told me his name. You only told me yours, and I do not know if you share his surname.” 

“Right, sorry.” Sinead pulled out her padd, and quickly brought up a picture that had Tam stopping in her tracks. Sinead took a few more steps before noticing. “What is it?” 

“My father was a famous scientist in Starfleet before retiring to be the Ambassador’s aide. It is where he met Doctor Leonard McCoy, the man standing next to you and your dad.” 

“We’ve always called him Bones, I kind of forget he has a real name, but that’s it.” Sinead replied in a voice that was almost as emotionless as Tam’s. She was awake now, eyes locked on Tam’s face, as Tam spoke at the image. 

“Leonard is an excellent doctor, famous in his own right for finding solutions to problems they encountered while in space. I have no doubt that him and my father could produce children in non-traditional methods if they so desired.” 

“But why make two only to separate them?” 

“In a mind meld, I saw an image of this man, your dad, after asking unexpectedly about my mother. Father experienced a wave of sorrow at the image I did not know he could feel.” 

“What are you saying?” Sinead asked, but hurried along as if to answer her own question. “You think my Dad is our mom?” 

“That is one hypothesis, but with an artificial womb it would not be necessary for either male to have carried us.” 

“Bones knows everything, and he is more susceptible to emotional manipulation than Dad.” 

Tam blinked up from the image to stare at her friend’s face. “Sinead, you said that like I would have.” 

“Why not? Apparently I am you.” Sinead’s eyes narrowed, a look Tam had quickly learned meant Sinead was getting creative. “Or, I could easily be you.” 

“Please clarify, without the rather evil looking grin you have on your face.” 

Sinead laughed at that, far more exuberantly than Tam thought the comment warranted. 

“It’s perfect. I’ll go back to London, pretend I’m you. You’ll get to meet Dad, get to know how great he is. We can get a fresh perspective, look for clues, try to find a way to convince Bones to tell us. We’ll be able to comm. each other, and make sure we stay in character.” 

“You don’t think they would suspect?” 

“Why would they? As far as they know, we don’t even know each other. We’ve even got the rest of the time here to learn all about each other, our lives at home, how we act.” 

“The hair is something of a clue, Sinead.” 

“Not if we steal an electric scalpel from the biology lab. Your, our Father won’t get mad if your hair looked different, would he?” 

“He asks every time we go for haircuts if I would like to change it. This cut is common among Vulcans of all genders, as it is easy to care for while providing warmth in the cold and protection in the sun. However, he would understand if I wanted to change it to an expression of personal style.” 

“Dad likes my hair long, or he did. He used to do fancy stuff with it, like braids and beehives. But he hasn’t done that in a while, so it’d serve him right for me to cut it short. I could go with the cut you got, but it just doesn’t do us any favors.” 

“We have missed breakfast, but during lunch we can search for a style we both like.” 

“Acceptable, sister.” Sinead replied in an emotionless mask that almost made Tam smile. They might be able to do this after all. 

**J <3S <3B<3J**

Campers were either being picked up at Jupiter Station or returned to Earth in a series of timed shuttles. Kirk, S. was in the third wave of shuttles to Earth, Detroit Station. At least, that was what the paperwork said. After they’d cut their hair to matching pixie cuts, the staff had found themselves lucky that neither girl had brought enough clothes to dress their new sister in identical outfits. The staff had relied on the clothes to identify which girl they were talking to, so the girls made a habit of switching clothes randomly. It was easy to fool the staff, but they didn’t really know either girl. 

As Sinead Kirk was called to exit the shuttle and into the arms of her guardian, the real test began. Leonard was waiting for her, and Tam’s normal preference for his company was pushed aside by a certain amount of concern for what was to come. Bones was waiting for Sinead, passing the biometric confirmation of his identity and proving he was legally able to pick up this minor. When he looked up at her with a face splitting grin, Tam gave in to the urge to grin back, as it was something Sinead was allowed to do. 

“Hey, kiddo. You lose a bet?” 

Tam was able to extrapolate from the way his eyes were on her hair that his words related to that, but she had made no wagers on it. Fortunately, the exiting coordinator was talking to Leonard, Bones, and Tam did not have to formulate a reply. Though, from the coordinator’s words, Tam estimated that her similarities to another girl at camp were about to be spoken about. As Bones knew about them both, he would quickly grasp what had happened, and the game would be up. 

“Her and this other girl cut their hair, and went around confusing everybody.” 

“Bones, why isn’t Dad picking me up?” Tam was concerned with how long it took her to formulate that sentence. Bones, instead of Leonard, isn’t, instead of anything more formal, Dad, not Father, picking up, instead of meeting. 

Bones sighed, and reached a hand out to her. The coordinator smiled at them and moved to the next adult in line. Satisfied with that, Tam considered what Leonard was reaching out to her for. Handing over the duffle bag, Tam watched as Bones rolled his eyes. He did take the duffle, and then he took her hand. 

The contact was unexpected, but once Tam had adjusted her mental shields, she found she liked it. He walked next to her this way, instead of her following behind as they made their way through the crowded station. 

“Sorry kid,” Bones spoke has he looked at the signs posted around them. “Verbena had to borrow Jim, but he should be back for supper.” 

“Oh,” Tam replied, aware of how disappointed she sounded. She knew Leonard; it was Dad that all this was for. 

“I’ll try not to take that bummed out tone personally.” Bones smiled at her, even as he directed her into a quiet corridor. After a quick look around, he stopped and pulled out his communicator. “McCoy to Chekov.” 

Tam recognized the communicator as Starfleet equipment, but didn’t think Bones was supposed to use it outside of official duties. 

“Chekov here.” 

“You know the drill, Pavel.” 

“That I do.” Came the happy reply, and Bones rolled his eyes before shutting his communicator. 

Tam wondered if this abuse of equipment was usual, as Sinead hadn’t spoken much about how she would get home, only that Dad was to meet her at the civilian controlled Detroit Station. Tam felt the tingle on her skin first, as if a sonic shower had slipped its safety protocols, and then in was inside of her. Transportation could go so wrong so easily that most civilians didn’t have access to the technology, so for the first time in her memory Tam was transported somewhere. They arrived in a clean entryway, with coats and boots next to a bench. 

Bones walked away, not worried about the violation of regulations they had just performed, so Tam chose to follow him. All her life, though, Tam had heard Leonard complain about beaming, and space, so it was strange he’d have risked it to avoid a quick flight to San Francisco. 

“I thought you hated beaming.” Tam spoke before she could convince herself not to ask. 

“I do. Hate having my molecules scrambled across space, no telling where I left my spleen.” Bones confirmed this easily, but shrugged as he started up a staircase, Tam following closely. “But Uhura will be here in an hour, and I wasn’t about to make her reschedule so I could take a safe flitter back from Detroit.” 

“We’re supposed to start on Klingon.” Tam felt she could add this, as Sinead had made a point to tell her about Uhura. She’d taught Sinead Vulcan, something Tam had learned from Father, and basic Romulan. After Sinead got back from camp, they were going to begin lessons in Klingon. Sinead also said she’d been able to ask Ntoya anything that she didn’t want to ask Dad, except about her mother. 

“Here ya go, I’ve carried it far enough so I’ll leave it to you to unpack.” Bones shot her a look before tossing the duffel bag into a room. 

“Thank you, Bones.” Tam offered, recognizing it was Sinead’s room from the description. 

“Ohh, learned manners did we?” Bones teased, even as he headed back the way they’d come. 

Tam pushed questions about Bones aside, as she only had an hour to match the house to the schematics Sinead had drawn up. Then she would meet Uhura, who even father had spoken about with reverence, as a skilled former colleague. Tam even felt that learning Klingon would be an added benefit of this exchange. 

**J <3S <3B<3J**

Sinead trailed behind Spock diligently, making sure she was looking Vulcan and not looking around in amazement. She lived near Starfleet, and Dad got her into space regularly, but the United Federation of Planets London HQ, recently completed, was awesome. They’d worked hard to combine cutting-edge technology with comfort for all the species represented, plus a touch of English old-world charm. Sinead had heard Bones use that phrase, but it was only now that she understood it. 

The fireplaces were holographic, but the smell of burning peat was added for ambiance. One window, on the same floor as Spock’s office, apparently changed color based on the temperature of the rain that gently touched it. Anti-grav worked on the staircases, so they could be climbed without effort, and the lifts were transparent aluminum. There were also more alien species here than in Starfleet, some Sinead didn’t even recognize as they stopped Spock to talk to him. 

Dad had mentioned that some species had moral convictions against joining Starfleet, as it had become such a military organization. Dad also said he was fighting this from the inside, but he didn’t go into details. Even with Spock’s known association with Starfleet, people didn’t have a problem stopping him to talk. Sinead’s internal chronometer wasn’t very accurate, but she figured it’d taken them an hour to reach Spock’s office. Spock hadn’t even sat at his desk when another ambassador was knocking. 

Sinead noticed a window seat with a padd sitting on it, and lacking any other instructions she made herself at home. Looking through the padd, Sinead wondered why all these people were talking to Spock, who was only the ambassador’s aide, and not the ambassador himself. Supper was brought in after a few hours, and Spock let his go cold as he talked with the Tellerite ambassador. It was dark when Spock shut down his terminal and stood. Sinead shot to her feet a little too fast for a proper Vulcan, and hoped Spock didn’t notice. He did notice, but his words weren’t chastising. He’d not had much to say since he picked her up at Jupiter Station. He’d been speaking with someone on the comm. even as he flew the craft back to Earth. 

“I had planned on spending the day with you, discussing what you learned at science camp. Once again, I have found myself absorbed in my work to the exclusion of what is important; you. I apologize T’Amanda, and shall adjust my future behavior.” 

The use of Tam’s name quickly killed the smile that was trying to break out at Spock’s words. Sinead hoped her emotionless mask stayed in place as she came up with a reply. 

“I understand your actions and recognize the importance of your work. No offense is taken where none is meant.” Sinead almost smiled as she said that, glad Ntoya’s lessons in Surak’s teachings had finally come in handy. “Perhaps we can go home now?” 

Home was a flat across the way, connected by several elevated walk-ways. But once they had entered the other building, nobody interrupted them. A sort of unspoken truce decided that official duties would not be discussed in the residential quarters. Tam’s bedroom was the last one down the hall, further from the main entrance of their flat. 

Sinead recognized this as a security precaution, even if Tam hadn’t been thought to think of things that way. The longer it took a badly intentioned person to reach Tam, the longer Spock would have to stop them. Sinead had long since known this was why her room was in the center of Dad’s house. She wanted to know more about Father though, and not just his plans for taking care of his daughter. Sinead grasped at an idea before it was fully formed. 

“Father, while I was at camp, I was remiss in my nightly meditations. Would you assist me in recovering my discipline by instructing my meditation tonight?” 

“I believe that is a logical solution.” Spock agreed readily, only his left eyebrow quirking up. “Prepare for meditation and I will join you in fifteen minutes.” 

Sinead turned toward her room to hide a smile, and started walking that way. She heard father turn into the sitting room, and curiosity got the better of her. As quietly as she was able, which was very quiet on the thick carpet, she went to the door to listen. Dad sometimes watched the news after sending her to bed, but Father was making a call. She only wished she could see until she heard the voice Father had called. The voice made her grin. 

“Hey, hobgoblin.” 

“Leonard, Tam has asked two questions I find strange.” 

“If she’s finally asking about the Vulcan birds and bees, she’s overdue. Speaking of overdue … “

“Enough, you have made your position clear.” Spock talked over Bones, when interrupting people didn’t seem a very Vulcan thing to do. “I had to stop in the office and Tam asked why people talked to me instead of the ambassador. I explained that the ambassador was even busier than I, but the answer didn’t satisfy her.” 

“Of course not; you’ve got smart genes.” 

Sinead straightened at that, curious. She’d put such things down to Bones’ medical background, but now, knowing she had a twin, she wondered. Did Bones mean to compliment both girls instead of the one Spock had raised? If so, why? Was he needling them both about separating the kids? That did seem like something Bones would do. 

“Spock, don’t give me that eyebrow.” A sigh, and Bones continued. “Everyone knows you are half-human, which, on paper, makes you more approachable than a full, stuck-up, snob of a Vulcan. After they talk to you, they find you to be a real person, instead of the ice sculpture your father is.” 

“Aliens find me more approachable and relatable than Father. I shall consider this idea, though it does not take into consideration that if other species know I am half-human, then they also know Father took a human mate.” 

“That doesn’t make him more approachable, simply because most people think it was an experiment of some sort. Not me, others. I know a Vulcan would never experiment on his offspring.” 

Sinead’s eyebrows went up at that. Bones was definitely needling both her dads, probably had been since she was born. And yet they still allowed the man to interact with them. Why would they put up with him? 

“The second question T’Amanda asked was if I would vocally lead her through her meditation tonight.” 

“Did she finally learn to slack off like a good kid? And I’m not there to enjoy it.” 

“Leonard, her reasoning was sound but it goes against her personality. She has been very disciplined and independent in her meditation since she asked an awkward question during the mind touch.” 

“What question?” 

“You are only asking because you like to pry, but she asked after her mother.” 

“Ah.” 

“Is that all you have to say?” 

Sinead agreed with Spock, wanting Bones to explain more, maybe mention something that would prove the girls’ hypothesis. 

“Spock, do we need to argue about the importance of telling the truth, again?” 

“Negative.” 

“I don’t know, this might be crazy, but maybe the kid just wants to spend time with you, you workaholic. This help meditating may be because she thinks she needs an excuse to ask you for attention.” 

“I shall take that under advisement.” 

Not wanting to get caught eavesdropping, Sinead crept back up the hallway. Grabbing her night clothes, she changed in the sonic shower. Tossing back some mouthwash, she skipped brushing her teeth to put her mediation robe on over her pajamas. Spitting the mouthwash, she managed to walk into the mediation room just as Spock exited his room in his meditation robes. She folded easily into the lotus position Tam had taught her, the loshiraq, the easiest part of the meditation routine she’d tried to impart. 

It was a little easier to focus here, though, than at camp with other people around and the more exciting awareness of being in a polystyrene cabin in a biodome. Here there was only the smell of the incense, Earth sandalwood since anything Vulcan was rare and expensive. Spock sat beside her, without touching, kneeling instead of trying for the lotus, folded into the leshriq. He began to speak, his voice calming, melodious in the Vulcan words. Sinead listened, accepted what he said as truth, and allowed herself to do as he said. 

Focusing on Spock, instead of focusing on not focusing, allowed her mind to wander, yet it remained focused. Sinead found her breathing easier, deeper, as things settled around her, in her. Out of nothing, she felt as if something snapped, but Spock’s voice led her away from worry, so she gave it no further thought. 

**J <3S <3B<3J**


	2. Looking Back at Me

After the meditation efforts, Sinead had slept better than she could remember. The next morning she got up easily, ready for a full day. She dressed and used the restroom before going in search of breakfast. Father was at the table already, drinking tea and reading from a padd. He was not dressed in the very Vulcan robes he’d worn yesterday.

“Father.” Sinead offered in acknowledgment of his presence, not sure if a good morning was appropriate. 

“Greetings. Choose your breakfast so we may talk.” 

His voice was full Vulcan, so Sinead worried the jig was up. Still, she was his daughter and she doubted he’d do more than switch her back for Tam, so Sinead calmly got her breakfast. It was a comforting breakfast, a bowl of hot rice sprinkled with sugar and doused in milk. She sat down across the table from him and began to eat, only to get a curious eyebrow at her choice. 

“Has Leonard approved of eating such a dish?” 

“He was the one who made if for me first.” Sinead replied easily, as that was true. She just hoped her reply was Vulcan enough and not defensive. 

“Then I suppose the refined sugar will not harm you.” Spock had to have a sip of tea before he was fully dismissed of his concerns. 

It was a long enough sip that Sinead began to wonder if there was some difference between her and Tam, something that hadn’t shown up on the genetic scans. A gene of Tam’s might not have been expressed in Sinead, making this little exercise dangerous to Tam. Sinead knew she was healthy, Bones was around often enough to make sure. Well, Bones was with Tam now, and she’d be logical enough to say something if anything went wrong, Sinead had to rely on that. 

“T’Amanda, I have spoken with Father. I am taking today off from work, and was wondering if you would like to visit Ireland.” 

Sinead pushed down the desire to jump across the table and hug Father, as she’d always wanted to visit Ireland. She hoped it wasn’t also a dream of Tam’s, and used that worry to keep herself in check. 

“I would appreciate that very much. Do you have a plan in mind or could we visit the Bookbinders?” 

“I was only looking at day trips with available public transport and had made no further plans. I do not believe I have heard of the bookbinders, however.” 

“Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, was long recognized as one of the most beautiful libraries on Earth, but it also had the greatest collections of books on the planet. Shifts in the population in the last hundred years made the College unnecessary, and attendance declined past the point of usefulness. The politicians wanted to close the library, but the Irish people got together and came up with a different plan. The entire College was converted into more library space, including some of the surrounding town. The Bookbinders started out as a pub in Dublin, where people met to learn about taking care of the ancient books and come up with new ideas for preserving them. They eventually developed a plan to create a physical copy of every book written on Earth and store it in the Library.” 

Sinead stopped when she realized the lecture was over and she was about to start in on how beautiful the Long Room was and how she loved to hold a book in her hands. She also really wanted to see the Book of Kells, and watch a paper book being made. 

Father twisted an eyebrow at her, but there was something almost sad lurking in his eyes. “I did not know of your appreciation for physical books. We shall visit the Bookbinders and the Library today. Father plans on taking you to Israel tomorrow, so on the ride you can look for any place there you would like to visit. Unless you already know of such a place.” 

Sinead bit her lower lip to keep from shouting her joy. She didn’t really know much about Israel, but she did want to get to know Grandfather as well as Father. “I thank you both.” 

“One does not thank logic, and it is logical to raise a well-traveled, educated child.” Spock offered as he stood, but he had one more thing to say before he left the room. “You are welcome, and I look forward to this day as well.” 

**J <3S <3B<3J**

Sinead had told Tam that every morning for most of her life she’d gone out riding. Not wishing to deviate from what was expected of Sinead, Tam went out to the stables after breakfast with Bones. Sinead had explained the machine that automatically saddled the horse for her, as the traditional saddle weighed almost as much as she did, and Tam was confident she could use a machine. What Sinead had neglected to mention, and Tam did not take into consideration, was that horses were huge. 

Tam had known about their uses, and seen pictures of horses easily supporting large, muscular males, but staring up at the muzzle of one was more intimidating than expected. Sinead had proclaimed Rosebud her favorite, and the stall held a name placard. Tam stared up at Rosebud’s face and wondered if she was imaging the confusing and hesitant friendliness she saw there. Did the horse know she was not Sinead? How was that possible? Would it be logical to skip the ride until she could find a reason to be accompanied by a skilled rider? It was safer but might give away the greater objective, of finding out about her Dad. 

Yesterday, after two hours of basic Klingon, Uhura had taught her how to make Pepper Pot. Bones had joined them for supper and pleasant conversation. No one had mentioned her Dad, but she noticed Bones and Uhura sharing angry, significant glances. Bones had made cheese popcorn and they’d settled into the living room to watch a holovid. Uhura had left, and Tam took this as her signal to go to bed. She’d meditated, but went to sleep still disappointed that she had yet to meet her Dad. 

They didn’t talk down to her, as most non-Vulcan adults did, so that was a significant reduction in stress for Tam. But Bones and Uhura had very carefully not talked about Jim or his absence, not even to speculate on the reasons for it. The cooking instead of replicating, the mentally stimulating holovid while stuffing mouths with popcorn, all seemed to be a plan to keep her from asking. It was intriguing that Bones and Uhura did not have to discuss this distraction, it seemed to flow naturally from their actions. 

“Marlena, darling,” came a pleading voice from the other side of the barn. 

Tam turned to watch as the male voice came closer. She saw the box of tools he held before she saw him, the handsfree comm in his ear. Father did not prefer to use the handsfree comms because they vibrated his ear, Tam remembered. 

“You know it’s important to me, but I’ve got to fix the auto-saddler before Sinead gets back this afternoon.” 

From the comment, the man could have been a worker, but Tam now saw enough of him to recognize James T. Kirk. She wanted to demand his attention, but ignored that impulse of blatant emotionalism. Waiting until he was finished with his call would be the polite option. 

“Babe, I will call you tonight,” James trailed off as he caught sight of Tam. A blink, and he was speaking down the comm with a commanding tone while putting the toolbox down. “Got to go, love you.” Pulling the comm from his ear, he turned to Tam with a sheepish grin. “My padd says to pick you up at Detroit station this afternoon.” 

“Bones retrieved me yesterday.” 

“Did he take you for a haircut? I like it, but I already miss the long hair.” 

“You no longer had the time to play with the long hair.” Tam’s statement was delivered emotionlessly, as it was something Sinead had told her. She didn’t expect it to cause Dad’s face to fall, in some emotion Tam couldn’t identify. 

“It’s just the wedding planning. Once that’s over, we’ll have all the time in the world.” Dad offered with a shrug. 

“Except there will be another person in your life, expecting a share of the attention.” 

“Right, I’m a jackass,” Dad agreed readily, but sadly. “Can I get a hug anyway?” 

Tam ran, closing the distance between them as if she’d been waiting for permission. As he pulled her easily into his arms and in the air, Tam considered she must have been wanting to hug him. Dad spun her in circles as he hugged her, and Tam felt it strangely safe. When he stopped and they slowly pulled back, he smiled at her. Tam suddenly understood the phrase ‘a blinding smile’. 

“I’ve got a few hours to be a dad and not a groom. How about I saddle the horses, and you go get Bones to pack us a picnic.” 

“An excellent idea.” Tam agreed, and let the smile show. 

**J <3S <3B<3J**

While Sinead got to spend a day getting to know her Grandfather, Tam was reconsidering their communications plans. At camp, it had seemed logical to have one set time to talk during the week. In urgent cases, they would try and break into Bones’ accounts and call each other. In emergencies, they would simply tell Bones the truth. Logical, but insufficient, as Tam wanted an explanation. Sinead had mentioned that Jim was engaged to Marlena, but nothing beyond that, such as the timeframe. 

Tam had asked Bones for a picnic lunch, which he had gathered into a special saddle bag, while muttering and glaring at the barn. Tam and Jim had returned in time to shower before supper, and Bones had supper waiting. He glared at Jim, and served Jim supper with an excess of force that disappeared over Tam’s plate. Mashed potatoes, tofu-Salisbury-steak and green beans. Tam suspected Bones had planned a supper that would give his violent thrusting of food that extra ‘plop’ factor, and let him loudly rap the spoon against the bowl. Bones then proceeded to tell Tam embarrassing stories of Jim’s time in Starfleet Academy. 

Jim just kind of sat there and took it, not verbalizing a single protest. Jim tried to change the subject of his time at the Academy, but with uninteresting small talk. He’d finally reminded them about the party Friday night, and that people would be there to set things up tomorrow. 

Tam had no awareness of these events and wanted to demand an explanation from Jim and Sinead. Instead she came down for breakfast the next day to have Jim running out of the kitchen to greet the personal craft that had just arrived. Bones just scowled deeper and drained his coffee. 

Marlena was beautiful, and trailed by an older woman with significant phenotypic similarity. Tam felt confident that Verbena was Marlena’s mother, but would wait for confirmation. As Verbena and Marlena referred to each other by their names, Tam considered they might be aunt and niece. Or perhaps this was how mothers and daughters acted now; having two fathers Tam could not eliminate this possibility. It might only seem disrespectful to her Vulcan heritage. 

“A pixie cut?” Marlena shrieked when she saw Tam, bringing all conversation to a halt. 

Tam found she did not appreciate being the center of attention in such a way. 

“How is the bridal party supposed to look uniform now, Sinead?” Marlena continued. 

Tam considered this rhetorical, but as Marlena continued to stare she changed her mind. “Perhaps uniforms will get this message across?” 

Bones laughed and Jim hid a smile behind his hand. 

“We can get her a wig.” Verbena offered. 

“Only if Sinead agrees.” Jim command, surprising everybody. 

Marlena responded first, going over to melt to Jim’s side. She fluttered her eyes at Jim, something Tam didn’t know people actually did. Verbena began to talk, her voice now soft and ingratiating, wondering if the caterers would have enough counter space. Bones gathered some fruit and took Tam for her morning ride. 

Lunch introduced Tam to Chekov, an adult with a startling amount of naiveté and enthusiasm. Bones and Chekov had a good time as long as they didn’t mention the wedding. After lunch Chekov taught Tam astrophysics. When the crew arrived to set up the tent, Chekov took Tam to watch, explaining the equipment used and how much smarter the setup would have been if there was a Russian on the crew. Coming back through the barn, Chekov had Tam help him fix the auto-saddler. Chekov left before supper, rather abruptly, when he learned that Marlena would be joining them. 

Tam wondered how all of Jim’s oldest friends could dislike Marlena and yet Jim was oblivious to it. How, indeed, could Jim’s friends watch the upcoming wedding when they disapproved of Marlena so much? What did Sinead think of her future step-mother? These questions preoccupied Tam so she missed Jim trying to talk Marlena into a simple wedding, barefoot on the grass with a flower crown. 

“Flower crowns would hide certain blemishes.” Marlena remarked casually, as if she was thinking it over, pulling Jim into a hug. But she flicked her eyes to Verbena, and they both turned to look at Tam. 

Tam felt the tips of her ears heat up even as she raised one eyebrow at them. They thought a flower crown would hide her ears or eyebrows, both now revealed by the short hair. Did they hate her features, or her Vulcan heritage? Did they simply hate her, Jim’s child? Did it matter? They were clearly illogical in whatever reasoning they had. 

Sinead said she was well-liked at school, which was understandable as she was more outgoing than Tam. But Tam had been bullied, and she recognized these two women as a duo of bullies. She would like to know why she was targeted here as well as school, but Tam would not put up with it anywhere. It almost made Tam consider that there was a fate that guided people’s lives, as she was here and not Sinead, who would not have been prepared to deal with bullies. Instead, Tam retired to her room early, to stretch out the soreness that came from riding horses when she wasn’t used to it. Then she folded into her mediation and planning. 

**J <3S <3B<3J**

Tam went on her first solo horse ride and then returned to her room. Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays were her days off from extra lessons, more to give her tutors a break than because Sinead needed it. After her ride, Tam had brought a few tools in from the barn, and pulled out one of the model kits Sinead had in her room. Time slipped by as Tam worked on her project, only stopping when Bones showed up to demand she eat lunch. It was just the two of them, and Tam realized how much better her project was going than her mission: Jim simply wasn’t around to get to know. 

Tam was delicately inserting the power coil into her imitation phaser when her door was opened. The nature of the procedure kept her from turning to face the intruder, but the annoyed voice told Tam who it was. 

“What are you doing?” Marlena asked. 

“Attempting to build a more accurate phaser.” Tam replied honestly. 

“That’s nice.” Marlena said without sincerity and patted Tam on the head. She set something on the bed before commanding, “Now get ready for the party.” 

Tam risked a look at her chronometer. “The party is not for four hours. Do you require four hours to make yourself presentable?” 

A strong hand gripped Tam’s chin and made her turn. Marlena was angry, that was an emotion Tam could recognize easily. 

“Don’t you dare call me ugly, or backtalk me. Put your toys away and get ready.” 

Tam felt the brush against her mental shields, a desire to obey shoved into her head. Or it would have been shoved in, if she hadn’t had strong shields taught by a master. Marlena didn’t notice that her message had been stopped, as she stepped back with a firm nod. She left the room confident that she would be obeyed. Tam finished her phaser and thought very carefully about what had just happened. 

When the party’s official start was a half-hour away, Tam moved into the sonic. Then she put on the dress Marlena had left on her bed. The material was heavy, without the flow of her Vulcan robes, and the neck and sleeves had an itchy lace trim. Tam could mentally discipline herself to not scratch, but she didn’t. She wanted her discomfort on display, should anybody care to look. Besides, Sinead didn’t have the mental skills to not itch. 

Bones was waiting in the hall, and made a ‘come here’ motion before ducking into the comm room. He sat in a chair, so Tam sat next to him, but not before noticing he was wearing his normal clothes. 

“Why don’t you have an uncomfortable outfit to wear?” 

“I’m going to say hi to some old friends and head out for the weekend. Won’t be here long enough for Marlena to get mad at me.” Bones held out a bag of dehydrated apple slices in a caramel coating. 

Tam took a few, very pleased by the taste. The engagement party included a lavish buffet, so they had not had an evening meal tonight. “Bones?” 

“Yeah, kid?” He responded quickly, even with his mouth full of food. 

“Have you ever scanned Marlena?” 

“In what way?” Bones replied slower this time, though his mouth seemed empty. 

“Medically.” Tam clarified, not sure of the other scanning techniques Bones had available to him. 

“I’ve not had the need to medically scan her, but I did look up her medical records. Just so I’d be ready if anything happened to her while she was here, you understand.” 

The way he hurried through that last made Tam think it was justification for something, but it seemed logical to her. No, it was harder to ask if Marlena was a telepath without accusing her of assault. “Is Marlena fully human?” 

“According to her files, yes. Why?” 

“I was curious about her telepathic rating.” 

“Telepathic brainwashing would explain Jim’s behav” Bones cut off his words, apparently remembering he was talking to Jim’s kid. “She’s human, and humans can’t do that mumbo-jumbo.” 

Tam echoed Bones’ sigh, and ate another apple slice. They munched in silence until Jim came to get her. He escorted Tam out to the party with their arms interlocked, but he talked to too many people for Tam to consider talking to him. Having been to several diplomatic functions with Father, the lavish party wasn’t that interesting to Tam. 

Once she was separated from Jim, she watched as Bones went to talk to his old friends. Tam wanted to join him, to say hi to her tutors Sulu and Scotty. But they were with Uhura and Chekov, who were Sinead’s tutors. As dense as she could be in social situations, Tam recognized that this could potentially be awkward, as they all pretended she was Sinead, and she was introduced to people she knew well. Instead, she sought out Marlena. 

Her target would move into a crowd of people, engaging them in conversation for a few minutes before moving on. She had met with six groups since Tam started watching, and left after five minutes. It was if she had in mind societal rule about party behavior and the acceptable amount of time to mingle. 

Tam herself was short enough that it was easy for the adult crowd to overlook her, despite the shiny pink dress. As such, Tam knew she could do what she needed without being observed. All her hesitation was due to having five minutes to get into position and use the phaser. With those restrictions, she might need several applications, so instead of any fancy shape, Tam decided to go with a square. 

Watching for anybody to cross her line of fire, Tam pulled her phaser out of the pocket hidden in the layers of the fluffy skirt. When Marlena moved groups, Tam gave chase, darting under an empty table for protection. She worked on the far left line, burning through the fibers of the fabric. Her little toy phaser didn’t have a powerful enough energy source to stun a fly, but it would weaken the fabric. 

Tam let Marlena move groups before she started on the far right line, and another group for each for the top and bottom line. Only when the top line connected to the far right line did Marlena seem to notice anything, as she absentmindedly reached back to rub at it. A small flap of fabric peeled away, and Tam estimated that gravity would do the rest. Putting the phaser away, Tam went to the buffet table. Tam loaded a plate with interesting tidbits, and retreated to the comm room. After all, she was expecting a call. 

At 11PM, a call from **Dr. McCoy, London** , rang through the system. With the party going on downstairs, Tam was able to answer it before anybody else heard the alarm. She recognized the number as the number to the flat she shared with Spock, so it intrigued her that it was saved under McCoy’s name. When she answered, Tam spent a moment looking in the fun house mirror, the one that made her grin to split her face, before realizing she was grinning almost as much as Sinead. It hadn’t even been a week, and she missed her sister. The early morning sun wasn’t very bright, but it could be seen through the windows at Sinead’s side, as it was 7AM in London. 

“Father is amazing! He managed to explain the meditation thing to me. I’ve been working on my mental shields, even though I don’t have telepathy, just cause it sounds so cool when he talks about it. We also went to Ireland, so I hope that wasn’t your dream trip or anything.” 

“I have been to Ireland before, so I hope you enjoyed the experience.” 

“I did! And then Grandfather took me to Israel, he’s really interested in the history of the region for some reason. Today, we went to the Smithsonian, and it was so big that we might go back next week!” 

“Are you sure you would not like to return here next week?” 

“Why, what’s wrong?” Sinead’s grin diminished but did not disappear. 

“Dad is very busy with Marlena and planning for their wedding.” Tam stuck with the facts and tried not to let her emotions about events interfere. 

“So soon? I didn’t think he’d go through with it.” 

“Their engagement party is being held here, tonight.” 

“But, Marlena is so fake, I don’t know how she got him to go this far.” Sinead was frowning now, concerned about Marlena’s hold over Jim. 

“She has also been rude and condescending to me.” 

“Really? She normally tries to act like she wants to be the perfect mother to me.” 

“But only when Dad is in the room?” Tam asked, knowing many kids at school who were perfectly well behaved when adults were around. 

“I guess. Bones has been there most of the time, at least lately. For a while there, when Dad first started seeing Marlena, Bones was hard to find.” 

“I do not trust her, and suspect she has some telepathic ability.” Tam finally admitted, not enjoying discussing it with Sinead since camp. Sinead had been very dismissive of telepathy as she was psi-neutral, so Tam had not spent too much energy wondering why Sinead didn’t have the same gifts as Tam. 

“Well, are you good to, you know, keep watching for clues?” 

“I take it you are not ready to end the charade?” 

“Grandfather and Father are so different than Dad. I haven’t even got to see how they act around Bones. I think Bones digs at both Dad and Father about separating us, yet they both put up with it. It’s fascinating, and I want to know their logical reason for it.” 

“Very well, I will continue with the plan. I need to go to bed, though, so I have an alibi.” 

“Oh, you’ve got to explain that.” Sinead was quick to demand. 

“I did not care for the way Marlena was treating me, so I retaliated by cutting the fabric of her dress.” As if on cue a scream was faintly heard. Marlena had an impressive range, considering she was outside and a floor down. 

“Is that?” Sinead asked, mouth covered by her hands. 

“It would be a logical conclusion.” Tam nodded, but paused to ask, “I would have thought underwear was appropriate for formal events.” 

Sinead began to laugh, a deep belly ache that didn’t stop when Tam disconnected. When she calmed down, Sinead looked to the chronometer. 7:24, so she had half an hour or so before Spock was scheduled to bring Bones to the flat. Head filled with the idea of Marlena walking around a formal event with a chunk missing out of her dress, bare-assed and mooning the world, Sinead put the kettle on. 

She could really get into this British tea thing. Maybe Father would like to go to China or India and learn about tea plants. He apparently had all sorts of vacation time saved up, and Sinead would be happy to have him use those on her. Yeah, she’d rather Tam was with them, but that wouldn’t happen for a while. Was it mean of her to take this chance to spend time with the family she never knew? 

Jim didn’t seem to have any family, which made Sarek their only grandparent. She’d never been disappointed with Jim and Bones, plus Uhura and Chekov on occasion, so she’d never thought she was missing anything. Except a mother, and Sinead didn’t care that she was getting Father instead of a mother. Maybe it wasn’t a mother she wanted, so much as more family, something to ground her, so she wouldn’t get into space and never bother to come back. 

As she was carrying her cup of tea to her room, the front door opened to let in Father and Bones. Since she’d been here, Sinead had never seen Father’s hair as less then pristine, and yet the left side of his head was fluffed up. Dad’s hair wasn’t long enough to fluff like that, not without considerably more time and privacy with a person than Bones and Father had enjoyed. Sex might be going too far, but perhaps a welcome to London kiss? Was Bones the kind to ruffle hair in a welcome kiss, or did that speak of something deeper than a hello? 

“Hello to you too, munchkin.” Bones turned to look expectantly at Sinead. 

“Greetings, Leonard.” Sinead offered formally before turning her attention to Father. “Good morning, Father. Your hair appears to be in disarray.” 

Spock’s hand went directly to the messed up section, suggesting he knew why part of it would be fluffed. 

Bones blushed, but rushed ahead to speak, hoping for a distraction. “Windy morning. Anything else on your mind?” 

“I was just wondering if you married Father, would you want to be known as Papa or Bone Daddy?” Faking calmness, Sinead continued walking to her room. 

“Sin-and-damnation!” Bones sputtered out, and Sinead almost stopped in her strategic retreat. 

Bones’ curse word that wasn’t cussing, something he occasionally needed, was tam o’shanter. Sinead had always thought it was a vague reference to the Celtic roots of her name, a tam o’shanter being a type of Scottish hat. But sin and damnation, rolled together as one word, almost sounded like Bones had started to call her Sinead. In California though, in Sinead’s house, Tam would be the name he’d start to call out and have to avoid. Tam, becoming tam o’shanter. Now, was it a mistake, a week of calling out one name tripping him up? Or could Bones tell the girls apart, since he was the only one who had gotten to know both of them? Either way, as Sinead got ready for the day, she had something to think about. 

Saturday mornings were reserved for doing any homework, and then moving on to any hobbies Tam felt like indulging in. Sinead spent it on the net, looking for exciting travel destinations to take Father. It might be selfish, dismissive of Tam’s interests, but Dad had been just as busy with Starfleet as Father was with ambassador duties. Switching with Tam was a dream come true, and surely Tam would agree it was logical to take advantage of it.

Bones yelled out for lunch, grilled cheese and tomato soup, Sinead’s favorite. Father stayed busy, but Sinead was used to eating with Bones. He started in on this afternoon’s medical lessons while they ate, talking about stomach acid and pH balances for different species. Sinead helped him clean up and they moved to the comm room to continue. Tam and Bones seemed to be at the same place in medical lessons, so Sinead didn’t have to worry about pretending to understand when she didn’t, or get bored because she was further along. 

Because he was technically the guest, Bones was allowed to choose a restaurant for supper. After eating, they went to the theatre to see a live production of _Hamlet_. Sinead enjoyed it much more than she dared show on her face, but couldn’t help but notice the way both Bones and Father stared at the lead actor. Every time he touched a weapon, they both leaned forward as if getting ready to stop him. It was strange, but Sinead wasn’t sure how to ask about it. Instead, she helped Bones talk Father into taking them for ice cream. 

After meditation, Sinead was ready to sleep, but suddenly Bones was there. As he sat on the edge of her bed, Sinead knew he wasn’t there to tuck her in. No, the padd in his lap wasn’t so he could read her a bedtime story, something he hadn’t done in years. 

“You know kid, people can look an awful lot like other people and not be related in any way, like that actor and a bad guy I once knew. But to be absolutely physically the same and not related? That’s very unlikely.” 

“Interesting, but this is genetics and not related to today’s lesson on stomach function.” 

“Tam’s lessons on convergent evolution and physical similarities in xenobiology are about a year more advanced than yours, as Tam has no personal interest in reproductive biology.” 

Bones let his words sit there, as well as letting the blush grow on Sinead’s face. 

“Maybe it was because Jim was always so interested in the less esoteric aspects of reproduction, but Sinead, you know way more about it than Tam. For instance, she would never have known a kiss lead to messy hair. Even Spock wondered when you had heard that my nickname was Bones. I’m supposed to be in here asking you if Bone Daddy was a popular culture reference.” 

“There is a character in an old vid called that, you could just say that’s where it’s from.” Sinead tried, knowing she was caught. 

“I could, but I should tell him exactly why you ate tomato soup, since Tam hates it. We’re adults, yes, not idiots.” 

“We never thought that, I promise. We switched out of curiosity, wanting to know our parents. Please, don’t tell them!” Sinead would like to think she was estimating the exact emotional appeal that would get Bones to agree, but she knew she just wanted this dream to continue. “Just for another week?” 

Bones frowned at her, so Sinead tried again. 

“I overheard your vid-call with Spock. You don’t think they should have separated Tam and I. You know this is wrong, and there has to be a better way.” 

“What vid was this Bone Daddy character from?” 

“ _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ , somebody called Jack that in passing.” Sinead whispered back, hardly daring to believe she’d convinced Bones to help them. But when he stood, it wasn’t to go out the door and convince Father it was a popular culture reference they didn’t get. 

Bones put his back to the window and leaned there, activating his padd. Sinead couldn’t see what he was doing, but she guessed he’d made a vid-call, hooked into the flat’s net so he didn’t have to go to the comm room. 

“Doctor.” Marlena sneered the word, as if she thought they let any idiot become a doctor with all this technology to do the work for them. 

“Hey, can you put Sinead on?” 

“I can,” came the quick reply, followed by a long moment of staring. 

Bones closed his eyes before opening them again with a smile plastered on his face. “I had an idea about getting Sinead out of your hair for a week or so, and I’d like to ask her if she would be interested.” 

“Of course she will! I’ll go get her and pack while you talk.” Marlena agreed in the breezy voice she took up for most things, a voice Sinead kind of hated now. 

Bones dropped the smile from his face, and tilted the padd to his chest before speaking to Sinead. “Not a word until I say so.” 

Sinead nodded, and tried really hard to develop the mental powers needed to warn her sister from half a globe away. It didn’t seem to work, as Tam replied quickly to Bones’ call. 

“Bones.” 

“Hey kid. So I know you were at camp on Jupiter station, but I was just wondering what kind of camp it was.” 

Tam took longer to answer, as if sensing something was off about the question. 

Sinead fought to remember how much she’d told Tam about Science making Jim sad. She understood it now, as Jim associated science with Spock, and that was what depressed him. 

“It was a general sort of camp, with regular camping activities.” Tam tried to hedge, but she was so honest that her skills were nowhere near Sinead’s prevarication abilities. 

“Name four of those activities, so I know what you can do while I make plans for next week.” 

That was a good question, as Tam had admitted that Science camp was her first time at such a camp. Sinead winced in second-hand embarrassment, knowing Tam wasn’t going to answer well. 

“There was hiking, swimming,” Tam responded quickly enough. 

There had been those outdoor activities, though hiking included plant identification and swimming involved observing coral reef formation. There were genetics labs about splicing, but Tam wouldn’t think to call that crafts. She could even make things up completely, say riding horses and leather care, and Bones wouldn’t be able to disprove it, suspect though he would. No, they were caught, and probably would have been caught even sooner if anybody had the time to ask them about their camp experience. 

“Astrophysics,” Tam slowly said, not even knowing to call it star gazing. 

Sinead groaned and sank back into her bed, covering her head with her arms. 

“What was that noise?” Tam asked Bones, who was probably glaring at Sinead. “Where are you calling me from?” 

“Does the background look familiar?” Bones asked, but with an edge of annoyance. “Could that be because I’m calling from your room, T’Amanda?” 

Bones moved, coming over to sit beside Sinead, so she slowly moved her hands away from her face. Tam looked out from the padd, mostly keeping her face expressionless but her eyes were a little panicked. 

“Jim didn’t know to tell me that Sinead was going to a science camp, and I thought Tam was spending two weeks on Venus with Scotty.” Bones told both of them, “the only reason I’m not talking to them right now is how stupid we’ve all been to let it come to this.” 

“You’re doing great, Bones,” Sinead felt compelled to say. 

“Sweet, kid, but I’m not your parents.” 

“Yes you are,” Tam started, so Sinead finished, “You’re always around, taking care of us.” Tam took up the words. “All our lives, you have been a constant factor, reliable.” 

“I know I said it as a joke earlier,” Sinead added, “but I would be proud to call you Papa.” 

Bones snorted, rolling his eyes at Sinead in a way that kept his watery eyes from leaking. “Great joke girls, now let’s tell your real dads.” 

“It’s not a joke,” Sinead’s voice cracked with emotion. She knew an emotional appeal was the best way to get through to Bones, but she suddenly doubted he knew how much she cared. “I love you, and I expect you to fight for custody if Dad marries anybody. Father might not have cared enough to fight for me, but I know you do.” 

Sinead turned away to wipe at her tears. She didn’t mind having emotions, not like Father and Tam seemed to, but she hated crying. The arms that wrapped around her were familiar, and not something she’d got much of while being Tam. Sinead curled into Bones’ hug and soft, soothing words. Sinead could have stayed wrapped up for a while, but Tam was uncomfortable, watching from the other side of the planet. 

“Perhaps, Leonard, you could explain how such an emotional man as Jim Kirk could decide one child was worth more than the other?” 

An arm moved, probably so Bones could move the padd to see Tam, and he hugged Sinead even tighter with the other arm. He was distressed, and wanted to comfort them both, which distance made impossible. Sinead pulled herself together just to ease the burden on him, imagining his distress lessoning as she pulled up her mental shields. 

“Alright darlings, settle down, settle in. It has nothing to do with you, either of you. You’re not better or worse than each other. Basically, your genius fathers are both incredible idiots. Get comfy; it’s a long bedtime story.” 

**J <3S <3B<3J**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My original works are under Nani Nicks, available on [ Smashwords ](https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/580261), [ Amazon ](http://www.amazon.com/Telling-Truths-Investigatrix-Book-1-ebook/dp/B015X38AEG/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1443490345&sr=1-2&keywords=nani+nicks), [ Kobo ](https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/telling-truths), [ Barnes and Noble ](http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/telling-truths-nani-nicks/1122628967?ean=2940152339031), [ Oyster ](https://www.oysterbooks.com/book/Aphf95ifMCJtcD2B77Pm4b/the-mask-of-professionalism), [ Inktera](http://www.inktera.com/store/title/c55535d9-44c2-49d8-953f-3f4e2f8fa413)


	3. Have a Bedtime Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where the girls came from. Discussion of abortion, non-consensual pregnancy, so skip this chapter if that squirks you.

Starbase 11 wasn’t fully built, but it was already in use. It was located as far into space as the Federation was currently comfortable putting a base, but it would be used to send out the parts for new starbases and colonies. Still, for the Enterprise to get there, it meant a giant space u-turn.

Bones wasn’t as annoyed by this as Jim and Sulu, but he had other concerns than distance. He kind of liked the idea of pausing to meet new people. You couldn’t spend five years on a ship with Gandhi without finding something about him that made you want to bloody his nose. And Jim was not Gandhi. Hell, even Christine Chapel, survivor of an affair with pre-Spock-Jim Kirk who was enough of a saint to serve on a ship under his command for the chance at five years in space, occasionally annoyed Bones to the point of nose punching. Like today, with her being right about a medicinal allergy that wasn’t recorded in a patient’s chart. Arguing with Bones to save a life; the audacity. 

Bones submitted the commendation for Chapel and drained his glass of Saurian Brandy. Next on his ‘to do’ list was making a wish list for visiting the starbase. He knew it wasn’t complete or fully stocked, but they still might have the new nano-probes that were still experimental when they left Earth four and a bit years ago. 

“Bridge to McCoy.” 

“McCoy here.” He answered quickly, adrenal glands already working to flush that little bit of brandy out of his system. 

“Bones, you have been invited to meet the boss of Starbase 11.” 

“What kind of plague they have?” 

“No plague reported, just the base commander asking for a medical opinion.” 

“Medical opinion and it’s not a plague?” 

“Would you get off the plague? We’re beaming down in twenty. Bridge out.” Jim snapped off his end of the call. 

Mentally shrugging, Bones still made sure he was ready to beam down into an emergency. He had his best medical tricorder, a few hypos, and a communicator. If he needed a phaser, they’d give him one when he got to the transporter room. He did stop and pee before going to the transporter room, just in case. 

Spock and Jim were in the middle of a conversation when Bones entered the room, something about honey bee payloads, but Bones only cared that neither was armed. After they did their impersonation of scrambled eggs, they were met by a man with receding hair and a frown etched into his face. 

“Hello, hello, I’m Commodore Mendoza. I wanted to talk to Dr. McCoy and Captain Kirk about some medical issues. Probably bore anybody else to death.” 

Bones felt his eyebrows shoot up at that. First, he didn’t think it was possible to bore a Vulcan, and if you did they wouldn’t let it show. Second, a medical conversation was scientific enough that Spock would be able to follow along and offer valuable input. Spock just got irritated by how much of medicine was still an art. Third, if it was that boring he might as well hypo Jim now. 

“Commodore Mendoza,” Jim began in his diplomatic voice, “by the time Spock gets bored I’ll be in a boredom induced coma. Are you trying to bore me to death?” 

Mendoza sighed, clearly not buying into the humor Jim tried to inject into his last words. “It’s a top secret issue with medical overtones. If I was fully staffed, I wouldn’t have to ask, but at the same time I need to limit the number of people who know. I’m telling you, Captain, as a curtesy, instead of requisitioning your Chief Medical Officer. After you hear the details, you can decide if Spock needs to know.” 

“If you’d told me that before we beamed down, Spock could be attending to his duties even now.” Jim mentioned casually, but with a hint of annoyance in his voice, before turning to Spock. “Mister Spock, are you returning to the ship or would you like to check out the base?” 

“If it will not disrupt the activities of the base, I would like to see if it would serve as a shore leave facility for the crew.” 

“A logical idea. Dismissed.” Jim turned back to the Commodore, who smiled at him. 

“Captain, Doctor, if you’ll follow me?” Mendoza led the way into his office, not far from the beam down point. “Please, have a seat.” 

Bones sat down readily, letting Jim look around and allay his security concerns. Finally, Jim took the other visitor’s chair and looked across the desk, to where Mendoza was sitting. Mendoza took this as his clue to start talking. 

“Starbase 11 is going to be an important base in this region of space, so Starfleet put their best technology here. Currently though, my full medical staff is six excellent nurses, none of which have any sort of security clearance. Some facial recognition software reported that a Dr. Mangler was on base, which triggered an alert. The Federation sent me the information, but I don’t have anyone with the security clearance to explain it to me. I also haven’t been able to find Dr. Mangler with the overworked security officers I do have, so I could use your help with that as well.” 

“Who’s Dr. Mangler and what he’d do?” Jim supplied helpfully, cutting to the very heart of the problem Mendoza was having. 

“Dr. Mangler was being investigated for medical malpractice on Earth when he left the planet. Here’s what they told me.” Commodore Mendoza pushed a padd across his desk towards Bones, but kept talking to Jim. “We have verified his presence in the embarkation lounge, and we can watch him head into the station proper, but he disappears about ten minutes after arrival.” 

Jim asked something security related, so Bones dived into reading the padd; Bones wasn’t here to consult on how to catch the bad guy. The padd made much more sense, even if it was heartbreaking. It was fascinating and hateful at first; it didn’t break Bones’ heart until he saw the names listed as a source of Dr. Mangler’s breakthrough research. 

Jim caught Bones’ heavy sigh and brought him back into the conversation. “Dr. McCoy?” 

“Dr. Mangler is a Pandaros, one of many species that almost destroyed their planet before switching to solar power and the like. Only this species was left with major infertility and they would have died out if they hadn’t developed fertility science to such a high degree. As such, any doctor from Pandaros is automatically an expert on fertility to the rest of the universe. Dr. Mangler, according to this padd, worked as a fertility doctor on Earth for decades, above reproach.” 

“Until he developed a god complex?” Jim suggested. 

“That’s a stereotype of surgeons and I’ll thank you not to repeat it, but yeah, basically.” Bones had to agree about that. “Dr. Mangler decided to play god, started experimenting on patients without permission. Most didn’t notice until the kids got older, so they reported him. Still, could have been a mistake or an unexpected result of the technology, nothing they could pin on him, until,” Bones hated the hesitation in his voice, but he knew why it was there. “Until he got copies of my unpublished research on Khan’s blood.” 

Jim swallowed heavily but remained silent, earning a shot of brandy from Bones’ supply. 

“He developed some procedure he swore would cure any fertility problem in any species, but refused to let it be tested properly. Started giving it to patients without telling them of the risks. I guess he got bored with humans, and he started kidnapping other species to see about mixing genomes. Or, you know, playing god.” 

“The charge of kidnapping people of different genetic structures I understood.” Mendoza butted in to say. “But I wasn’t getting what he was doing with them, so I couldn’t tell what materials he would need to keep doing it, materials I could track or limit. What does an ontogeny reintegration specialist require to do his thing?” 

“Wait.” Jim’s voice was hard, the line in his shoulders sharp enough to cut stone. He was on the edge of his chair and looked about twelve feet tall. 

Bones sunk into his chair to make a smaller target, even before he realized just why Jim was pissed. Fortunately for Mendoza, Jim was going to explain. 

“You are in possession of top secret information about a doctor who goes around kidnapping and experimenting on people with interesting genetic codes, and you let the universe’s first Human/Vulcan hybrid go walking around without any sort of warning?” 

Yes, Spock could take care of himself, Bones knew that, but Spock attracted trouble like a magnet. After all, no one was more attracted to Spock than James Trouble Kirk. 

“Ah, yes, I see your point.” Commodore Mendoza admitted, but he just kept digging his grave. “Maybe Dr. Mangler won’t know that’s who Spock is?” 

“Oh, yes, so he’ll just be a regular Vulcan, a species secretive about reproduction and still kind of rare since their planet blew up.” Jim was up on his feet, leaning on the desk and breathing at Mendoza. “First, we’re going to find my Spock. Second, I’m going to have you replaced by a rock, since clearly sentience isn’t required for this job.” 

“McCoy to Spock.” Bones called into his communicator, knowing the sound of that deep voice just might save Mendoza a limb or two. “McCoy to Spock, come in Spock!” 

Spock was slow to answer, and then not answering, but Jim was already on his communicator and talking to the ship. 

“Mr. Spock’s communicator is functioning, tracked to three floors down and 200 yards due south of your current position.” Uhura informed them with efficiency. 

Then Jim was running, and Bones had to keep up, keep Jim calm. Keep Jim from killing anybody as he went after ‘his Spock’ and wasn’t that an interesting turn of phrase Bones was going to torture him with later. Much later, as they only found Spock’s communicator in that corridor. 

Jim was still on with Uhura, ordering a life sign scan of the entire station, in a spiral pattern, starting from where they were now. Any ship that attempted to leave the station would be delayed with extreme prejudice. Mendoza rounded the corner at that, his face showing shock at the order. Fortunately for his health, he didn’t protest the order, and he’d brought six security guards with him. Two were still struggling into their uniforms, apparently having been asleep when called. Jim had them ordered into search teams and moving out before Mendoza could say anything. 

“Commodore Mendoza, take me to your security office.” Jim commanded, and the commodore obeyed. 

Bones followed, knowing Jim would do the same for any member of his crew, and even complete strangers if the cause was there. Just for Spock, though, there was a tension in him, an urgency that Jim only held when it was about Spock’s safety. If these emotionally-stunted gorgeous bozos weren’t together by the end of this mission, Bones was going to medically induce Spock’s next Pon Farr, so help him God. 

After a few minutes, Jim had the security console dancing under his fingertips, and they all got to watch as they beamed down and were met by Mendoza. Spock left the transporter room and got about halfway to where his communicator was found when an alien came up to him. In the noise of the station under construction, they couldn’t hear what Dr. Mangler said, but Bones could figure it out. 

Pandaros averaged about nine feet tall and had four arms, and Dr. Mangler was average for his species. With one hand, he tapped Spock on his shoulder, pointing out the hair on his uniform. That hand plucked up the hair, as another arm snuck a hypo into Spock’s far arm. Dr. Mangler picked Spock up easily, carrying him off as the drug took effect. He carried the dead weight off camera, and even Jim couldn’t get the computer to give up information it didn’t have. 

Bones stayed out of the way and watched the video again. He couldn’t focus in on the hair enough to see what color it was, though he could tell it wasn’t the raven black of Spock’s. It was there before Dr. Mangler came on screen, so he hadn’t planted it, but Bones wasn’t sure if it came from the Enterprise or the station. It was a stupid thing to obsess over, but it helped him not worry or get in the way. 

There was a call, a shout, and Jim was running again, so Bones forgot all about the hair as he ran. Jim called in the search parties, even the ones that had beamed down from the ship, so about twenty people went running at Dr. Mangler. That was probably a wise decision, as Dr. Mangler didn’t seem to be bothered by phasers set to stun. At least the fight to subdue him gave Jim an outlet for his emotions. A quick examination showed Spock wasn’t about to bleed out, so Bones had him beamed to the ship. 

The station just might have better medical equipment, but Bones knew every piece of equipment in his med bay, where they were all kept, and just what his staff would do in an emergency. Dr. Mangler had faith in his knock-out drug, so he hadn’t even tied Spock down before opening him up. He’d just pushed up Spock’s shirts, and unzipped his pants. Nothing private was on display, but the Enterprise crew didn’t care about that. They were professionals, and put Spock on a gurney without a comment. Then he was being scanned by equipment, even as he was pushed to sick bay. 

The incision had been straight, closed over with a dermal regenerator, leaving behind a curved device in an abdominal cavity. It was noticeable in Spock’s flat stomach, but Bones wouldn’t say it was comfortable. He might have his suspicions as to what it was, but he wasn’t going to say anything until he got a better look, some detailed scans of the device. Spock was gently moved to the biobed, one already set to his normal functions, probably by Chapel as soon as she heard he was missing. Chapel took a blood sample and gave it to the computer to analyze. Now, they could get to work. 

**J <3S <3B<3J**

Jim had showed up in a blaze of testosterone, and he was here to stay. He’d been full of questions, but now that Bones had the answers, he couldn’t tell Jim. It was ship’s business, and they would all have to make a report about what had happened, but Bones always put his medical duty above ship’s business. When Spock woke up, in about twenty minutes considering the knock-out drug Dr. Mangler had given him, Spock would have to make decisions before it became ship’s business. So, the problem was Jim. Specifically, how to get Jim to give Spock the space he needed to make the decisions. Casually, as if it was for Spock, Len filled a hypo and wandered over to Spock’s biobed. Oddly enough, he met Jim there. 

Something Jim didn’t seem to understand was that there weren’t any needles in a hypospray. The device held highly pressurized air that forced the medicine under skin, and it was made to be painless. It took a highly skilled hand to make the hypospray hurt, and sometimes Bones had reached his level of shit he could put up with. Strange how it was usually Jim who reached that level, but recently Spock had stoically endured some painful hypos. So, with just a hint of distraction, Bones could hypo Jim without him ever feeling it. 

“New info?” Jim demanded without turning, as if sensing a source of info nearby. 

“No,” Bones replied softly, knowing the words hurt more than the most painful hypo. 

“Anything you _can_ tell me?” Jim snapped. 

Well, so much for being nice, Bones decided. “Well, it’s not new, but I can tell you nobody looks good in sick bay lighting, but Spock’s the prettiest.” 

Thoroughly distracted as he tried to decide if that was an insult or compliment, if Bones was after Spock, if Bones thought Spock was sexy, Jim didn’t notice the hypo. Later, he’d decide Bones had just said such a thing to distract him from the hypo. 

Bones grabbed his confused friend and maneuvered his body onto the nearest Spock-free biobed. Nurses appeared out of nowhere to help, and then went back to work as Bones waited for Spock to wake. Bones still thought Spock was the prettiest patient, mainly because he managed to look peaceful while fighting for his life. One could almost think Spock was meditating, while even beautiful Jim showed signs of his illnesses. Plus, at times like these, Spock woke from his drugged sleep by simply opening his eyes, not sleepily blinking. 

“Doctor.” Spock acknowledged, lectured, and asked all at once. 

“Spock, Jim is in the next biobed, unharmed, I just needed to talk to you before it becomes ship’s business. It’s a medical thing, so don’t even bother telling me you don’t care if Jim hears.” 

Spock sent Bones an eyebrow, saying he had logical refutations for McCoy’s words but it was illogical to waste them on such an emotional being. 

“Short version, there was a fertility specialist turned mad scientist loose on the station. He sort of collects interesting genetic structures, and there you were.” 

“Indeed.” Spock couldn’t argue with his nearness to the individual. 

“He distracted you, knocked you out, took you to his lair, and experiment. Well, hell, you’re pregnant.” 

“Fertility specialist, I said.” Bones pointed out to the two eyebrows that jumped up to accuse him of being deranged. Shaking his head, he kept explaining. “There used to be a device that pulled enzymes from the blood to make insulin for diabetics, back before we could grow a new pancreas. This is sort of what Dr. Mangler put in you, except it produces female hormones to allow you to carry to term.” 

One eyebrow this time, Spock’s favorite expression. 

“Yes, it is fascinating science and could have been a real medical breakthrough. Whatever. At this point, all I can tell is that the other parent of your child reads as human, not Pandaros like Dr. Mangler.” 

Spock frowned, in that the edges of his mouth turned down minutely. 

“I don’t know why he combined genes, unless he’s just not interested in cloning. That hair he picked off your uniform, we saw it on the vid-record, right now I’m guessing that hair is the other parent. Could be anyone on the Enterprise, or even Commodore Mendoza, who knew Dr. Mangler was out there.” 

Spock turned his head to look at Jim. 

“He was too worried about you to do much more than threaten, but Jim did get some exercise in bringing down Dr. Mangler.” 

“Pandaros nervous systems do not react to phaser weapons.” 

“Yeah, now you tell us.” 

“Is the zygote viable?” That wasn’t a question Spock asked often enough that Bones could read it in an eyebrow twitch. 

“Well, from what I’ve read, the scans just now, his implant procedure in your abdominal cavity. Yes, you could carry to term, but there is no way of knowing how it will develop.” 

“Interesting.” 

“The understatement of the century.” Bones muttered to himself, though he knew Spock heard. “You’re a scientist, so you know as well as I do all the things that could go wrong in a normal pregnancy. Add to the top of that how experimental this all is, calculate the odds that you rupture something trying to carry a living being where one’s not meant to be. You could develop an allergy to the human aspects of the fetus and die of anaphylactic shock.” 

Another single eyebrow look, one that was somehow reassuring to Bones. 

“Yes, it’s unlikely to kill you, but it’s possible. Shit, I just told you that you are pregnant, which wasn’t a possibility last night. This ship is full of surprises and anything is possible.” 

A single Vulcan nod of conceding the logic. 

“Damn right.” Bones sniffed in response. “Options. Not fun to talk about but needs to be done. I can remove the device and zygote. I can remove the device and see what happens to the zygote. I could leave the device in and give you a morning after pill, though I don’t know if there is a Vulcan equivalent. Then I could recreate the experiment but with the genetic code of someone you wanted.” 

“How long until you will be able to determine the other parent?” 

“The zygote has to be large enough to take a scan of lots of cells and compile the genetic code to match against the Starfleet database. About four weeks.” That was easy for Bones to figure out, even with the Vulcan genes in the mix. “You need to make decisions without the influence of the other parent. I’m normally all for honesty between all parties involved, but neither of you were consulted about this situation. You may be able to separate this pregnancy from the conditions of its conception, some human women have been able to. But many human women can’t, and that’s not a weakness. You won’t admit to such emotions, fine, but I won’t act on your decision until you have meditated on this situation. Because if you go through with this, it isn’t just a science experiment that ends when the kid is born. This will be a kid, a unique person that you will have to care for.” 

“I do understand that, Leonard.” 

“Yeah, well, we’ve got an hour before Jim wakes up and demands answers he’s not going to get until you’ve logiced through this. You realize that even if he’s not the other parent, he’ll still want to be a part of its life?” 

“That is a commendable attitude.” 

“This from the guy who probably won’t care who the other parent is as long as the kid is healthy.” Bones rolled his eyes, as if this wasn’t a commendable attitude in Spock as well. “Man, you say that now, but I beamed down with you. I could be the man who donated a hair to your offspring.” 

“Such a development would not be undesirable.” Spock mentioned. 

Bones shut his mouth at the rare complement, feeling the blush bloom on his cheeks. “Yeah, well, you know you’ll be in sick bay once a day until the end of all this. No dangerous missions, though how we’ll convince Jim of that I don’t know.” 

“If given the time to consider the situation, Jim will reach the logical conclusion about what the fertility specialist did to me.” 

“I’d think it more likely that Dr. Mangler wanted your seed to impregnate ladies, statistically at least.” Bones replied. “Vulcans carry for 10 months, humans 9, so we guestimate gestation from that.” 

Random scientific talk got them through the hour, until Jim writhed off the bed. Grumbling and cursing, he staggered to Spock’s side and glared at Bones. Only when he was sitting next to Spock on the biobed did Jim calm down and start demanding answers. They weren’t even touching, but Bones could almost see the emotions traveling between them, a deep abiding love that Bones would never have. It did allow Bones to remember a talking point, something he used much sooner than he expected. 

“Jim,” Bones cut off Jim’s comments about needing to know for the good of the ship. “Think back to exactly what you said to Commodore Mendoza, before we realized Spock was missing.” 

Jim frowned but didn’t show signs of understanding. 

“How about you let this issue rest until we bring it up again, or I will tell Spock exactly what step one was.” 

Jim frowned deeper, but a moment later his eyes widened in panicked understanding. He didn’t bother to protest with a ‘you wouldn’t,’ when they both knew Bones would. If these two didn’t get together, Bones might tell Spock anyway. Man deserved to know that Jim considered him ‘his’ Spock. 

**J <3S <3B<3J**

Bones checked Spock daily, and checked the location of Jim before and after each checkup. Jim always started out on the bridge, but migrated ever closer to sick bay. By the time four weeks had passed, Bones had started locking the sick bay doors for each scan of Spock. When there were enough cells to accurately read the genetic structure without taking a biopsy, Bones took Spock to his office. The privacy settings there were impossible to legally override, which they both knew wouldn’t stop Jim for long. 

“I was able to get a 92% match on the ID of the other parent. Is that enough or do you want to wait until the percentage is higher?” Bones got right down to it, the art of the science of medicine, the part that annoyed Spock. 

“The child’s health will not be detrimentally effective if any member of the Enterprise is the parent?” Spock asked. 

“Keeping it then?” 

“Yes.” 

“Sorry, had a big speech and a gentle way for asking, but then I just go and blurt it out.” 

“I appreciated the direct approach, Doctor.” 

“What will you do with a kid, Spock? They won’t let you back on a starship, unless your dad or older self are going to raise it.” 

“I believe Starfleet Academy would be willing to take me back as an instructor.” 

“So, you’ve thought about it, as I asked. What about the other parent?” 

“My family had investments that were not on Vulcan, so I do not need financial support. If the other parent has no wish to be involved, they do not have to be.” 

“He will.” Bones snapped his mouth shut, realizing he’d just said too much, again. 

“You are convinced he will care, but not as excited as I think you would be if it was your child. Therefore, it is someone you know well, perhaps better than simply as a doctor and patient. Is Jim the father?” 

“I was going make sure you wanted to know, but yeah. Jim’s hair got luckier than his body.” 

“I am not sure if I understand that statement, but I think it is time to tell Jim.” 

“Do you want me to get him drunk before or after you tell him?” 

“As he is outside Sick bay at this time, I thought we could tell him now and you could stand by with a restorative or congratulatory beverage as needed.” 

“Wow, your understanding of alcohol has really grown over the last five years.” With a laugh, Bones disengaged the privacy settings on his office. The door immediately slid open, as Jim was standing directly under the sensor. 

He didn’t look guilty, so he hadn’t started to do anything illegal. Casually, as if he’d been officially invited, Jim sauntered over to lean on Bones’ desk. This kept him where he could see them both and reach the glass of Saurian Brandy Bones was pouring. 

“Dr. Mangler’s treatment has proven successful, as I am pregnant.” Spock stated. 

“Holy shit.” Jim offered with feeling. 

Bones considered it less feeling than the situation called for, which meant Jim had figured it out. Still, there was some news he wasn’t expecting, and Spock got to that now. 

“Apparently, the egg was developed from my genetic material, as there was more available for the conversion process.” A rather Vulcan was to say there was more of him to play with. “The other genetic input was from the root bulb of the hair on my uniform, that Dr. Mangler used to distract me from his drugging. It would seem it was your hair, Jim.” 

“How the fuck did my hair get luckier than me?” Jim demanded, shouting out his excitement and confusion, hitting the emotional response Bones was looking for. 

Spock looked from Jim to Bones, but moved on without seeking clarification. “As your consent was not given for the conception of this child, I do not expect anything from you.” 

“What if I want to have this child?” Jim’s voice was heavy with longing, but he wasn’t being specific enough. 

“We can work out a co-parenting compromise.” 

“Spock,” Jim tired again, “what if I want to have this child and raise this child with you?” 

“I would be interested in such a situation, however,” Spock had to quickly through that one before Jim got carried away. “Leonard made me think things over, meditate on it, before making any decisions. I would suggest you do the same.” 

Spock stood, and with a firm nod left the office. 

Jim watched him walk away, and Bones threw back his brandy without thinking about why. Bones refilled it in time for Jim to turn to him, grabbing his glass. 

“How long should I ‘think things over’ before asking that man to marry me?” Jim asked in all seriousness. 

“24 hours at the least, or he won’t believe you really thought about it.” Bones recommended. 

“Thanks for the drink. I’m going to skip supper and shop for wedding rings.” Jim downed his drink and practically danced out of the office. 

Instead of being violently happy those two idiots were finally admitting they were in love, Bones found a sudden hollowness in him, which he decided to fill with alcohol, at least for tonight. 

**J <3S <3B<3J**

Jim and Spock were happy, their sated lust lulling the entire ship into smiling all day. Bones seemed a little extra grumpy, but that could have just been his normal state and everybody else was extra happy. Grumpy Bones got to watch his best friend and favorite arguing partner go through the disgustingly cute honeymoon phase. He got to hear from Jim about Spock’s struggle with morning sickness. He got to watch Jim walk funny when hormones made Spock horny. He got to watch Jim’s joy light up the entire sick bay at the sound of twin heartbeats. 

Bones also saw how angry Jim got when Starfleet told him to keep Spock out of the publicity shots for the Enterprise’s triumphant homecoming. He argued, even though Spock wouldn’t care, until they allowed Spock to be seen from the chest up only. None of the huge expanse of belly on the bony man was to be seen by the public. Because male pregnancy would be the one thing that scared humanity out of space or something. 

Bones listened as the crew began to bet on everything from names to sex, to delivery date and size. Bones cleaned up in the pool by betting that the twins would have pointed ears, even though odds were against it. They were only a quarter Vulcan, and there was no medical reason for their ears to take after Spock. But Bones had taken that bet, hoping the ears would be pointed, a look too cute to not be on those girls. 

Spock was excluded from many of the homecoming festivities, so an exhausted Jim would return to their Starfleet issued apartment only to bicker about names. Bones made sure to get rights to operate in any hospital nearby, wherever they went in their mandatory six month leave after an extended space mission. This let him make sure the girls and their dads got through the delivery just fine. After two days in the hospital, since the babies were surgically removed from Spock, Bones escorted them home. 

Bones was supposed to sleep on the couch for a week while the family settled in. But Spock made ready to meditate, fingers on the meld points of each child. Jim’s question came out as a demand. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Vulcan children require a mind touch as much as human children require physical touches.” Maybe Spock’s voice was a little condescending, but it really didn’t explain the fight they had soon disintegrated into. 

The tiniest bit of friction soon became a fight about not forcing the girls to live the Vulcan way, which Spock took as an insult. When Jim was called away for a meeting, Spock took the chance to meld with his girls. Admiral Kirk took T’Sinead’s psi-null rating as proof that he was right. Spock was quick to point out that T’Amanda wasn’t psi-null, with therefor proved he was right. 

McCoy lived on that couch for a year, and still managed to miss the Fight, the one that sent Spock to live with his Father in London, T’Amanda cradled to his chest. Bones had a few things to say about that, but in the end he wound up living with Spock on the weekends. During the work week, he joined Jim and Sinead in the ranch house Jim had bought as a surprise for Spock. All Bones knew, was that this situation could not last indefinitely; something had to give. 

He never expected that something to kicked off at science camp. 

**J <3S <3B<3J**


	4. The Family Vaca

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anybody good with fluff, emotional reactions or Rom-Coms? Can I just prompt you with this chapter summary: Vulcans at DisneyWorld.

Sunday went smoothly, without any signs that Bones was about to tell on them. After telling his story, he’d kissed Sinead on the forehead and told her to go to sleep already. He’d carried the padd still connected with Tam out of the room. Before that though, he’d refused to answer any questions, so Sinead hadn’t expected to sleep while she came up with new things to ask. Instead, she’d slept the satisfying sleep of one proved right and time enough to answer other questions.

Bones and Spock were at breakfast and lunch, while the morning had been given over to medical studies. According to Tam’s schedule, Bones would stay for supper and head back to San Francisco afterwards. His resplendent crankiness would show up for breakfast in San Fran, the time zone working in his favor. This night, as the three of them cleaned up after supper, Sinead was regretting that Bones had to leave. No one was expecting the incoming comm signal to startle him, Bones dropping the heavy serving dish he was moving from the table to the sink. 

“Leonard, are you well?” Spock asked as soon as the crash noises stopped. 

“I’m fine, just answer the damn phone.” Father considered Bones’ words for a moment but did go to answer the call. Sinead brought over a cleaner-bot to help clean up the mess and Bones looked up from where he was kneeling. 

“I’ve performed brain surgery in space while we were being shot at and not dropped anything. I’m a surgeon; I don’t go dropping organs when startled. This,” Bones added a gesture at the spilled food as he talked, “is because I’m lying to your parents. You saw how concerned Spock was; it’ll take a miracle of a distraction to keep from having to explain this to him.” 

“Please Bones? We just want another week.” 

“Baby girl, you and your sister now know about each other. Jim and Spock will have to make the logical adjustment; they know they won’t be able to keep you apart any longer. What possible excuse could I give for letting this go on?” 

“Leonard, are you sure you are fine?” Father asked as he returned to the kitchen, his logical concern overriding his need to be polite and not interrupt conversations. 

“Yeah, just one of them things.” Bones replied, even as he eyed Sinead like he was considering the best way to out her. He knew how unlikely it was that Spock would drop the issue of this uncharacteristic clumsiness. 

“As you say. That was Father on the comm.” Spock moved on easily, so whatever Sarek had said must have caught his attention. “Father managed to clear our schedule for this upcoming week, as the week after begins the review of membership applications. Acting on the advice of another Ambassador, he has booked us in for a family vacation at a popular destination. Sarek is interested in knowing if you would care to join us, Leonard, at DisneyPluto.” 

The closest Bones ever came to an emotionless face was moments like these, when so many emotions hit him at once that even his mobile face couldn’t keep up. 

“Sarek, Spock, and the kid are spending a week at DisneyPluto, the only space body in the Sol system owned by a corporation, to experience family fun?” 

“Is it not the wholesome family activity Father has been lead to believe?” 

Sinead turned to look at Bones, knowing his miracle excuse had just happened. Telepathy would be so useful right now, letting her beg Bones for this chance. She’d only know Spock and Sarek for a short while, but already she could see the micro-expressions in their emotionless faces. The scientist and practical joker in her needed to see the expressions they’d make on the Disney planetoid. 

“Has to be this week?” Bones asked, even though he knew it had to be. More time, and Sarek would do some research, or Spock would, and they’d realize Disney wasn’t geared toward Vulcans. 

“Yes, as the Federation takes membership applications very seriously.” 

“I’ve got that Medical Conference on Jupiter Station.” 

“How could I have forgotten,” Spock replied, “Dr. McCoy presents ‘Why Nano-probes Can Bite Me.” 

Sinead bit back a snort of laughter and begged Bones with her eyes, concentrating on the one thought, _Vulcans at Disney_. Bones knew Sinead had been to DisneyPluto, and Sinead knew Bones didn’t want vids of the rides. Even emotionless faces could make priceless expressions. 

Bones looked down and into her begging eyes for only a quick look before caving. “I expect pictures.” 

“With two new memory cards, I could take a weeks’ worth of video.” Sinead countered. 

“Done.” Bones nodded sharply, and returned to the clean-up to hide his grin. 

Spock lifted an eyebrow at their exchange, but didn’t ask. He only spoke briefly before leaving the room. “I shall inform Father.” 

When Bones went to leave, he made sure to hand two memory cards to Sinead, which he must have had in his belongings somewhere. It was doubtful he’d had them express delivered. 

**J <3S <3B<3J**

Tam was already at the breakfast table, waiting for Bones when he arrived. Jim did not go to pick him up, as Spock did, even though the flat in London was much closer to the transport station. Tam wondered at this, as Bones and Dad would ride in to work together, after breakfast. Jim was making breakfast while Marlena talked to him, and Tam easily ignored Marlena. Bones was much more interesting, as was Father, so Tam suspected mental impairment was why Jim had decided to marry Marlena. 

Marlena had her good points, as she knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to go after it. She was intelligent, but used that only for manipulating people. She was beautiful, all the features of her mother put into their best combination. For all that, Tam still couldn’t respect Marlena, and generally thought she was wasting her talents in working only toward getting Jim to marry her. 

“Hey, Sinead.” Bones called as soon as he walked in, beckoning her over. 

Tam ran to see what he wanted, as calling her Sinead suggested he’d not told Spock about the switch yet. 

Bones knelt down to pull her into a tight hug, and whisper in her ear. “Since you’re Sinead for the next week, I get to hug you as much as I’ve always wanted.” 

“A week?” Tam asked, hugging Bones back as she’d learned from associating with Jim. 

“Once in a lifetime opportunity came up, so you girls get a week’s reprieve before I tell. How’d it go with Marlena after I hung up?” 

After telling his story, Bones had told Sinead to sleep and walked into the hall to talk to Tam. He’d told her his excuse for calling, and what to tell Marlena to keep her from being mad that Sinead wasn’t leaving for a week. Tam knew this was what he was referring too. 

“Marlena simply reminded me that my punishment was still in effect. I do not understand, but apparently I must keep one foot on the ground at all times for the next six months.” 

Bones sat back to look her in the eye and think about what she’d just said, if his frown was anything to go by. 

“She grounded you for six months?” 

Tam gave a nod of reply. 

“Marlena is grounding you from leaving the property, except for school and lessons, for the next six months.” 

“I have no activities besides lessons that do not occur on Kirk property.” Tam worked to keep her confusion from showing on her face. 

“It’s a half hour drive by the fastest flitter to the nearest station and town, and about an hour’s walk to the nearest neighbor, who doesn’t have any kids.” Bones stopped to shake his head in despair. “Grounding only works for city kids. Now why don’t you tell me why you’ve been grounded?” 

“What are you two whispering about over here?” Dad asked with a grin on his face. “Conspiring against me?” 

“Tam o’shanter!” Bones stuttered over his words and Dad’s eyes narrowed. “She was just explaining why she’s in trouble.” 

“What trouble?” Dad asked, his spine straightening and stance becoming stronger. 

Tam was fascinated by the change in the easy-going man she had spent so little time with and it took a jab from Bones’ elbow to get her talking. “Marlena is convinced that her wardrobe malfunction at the engagement party is my doing.” 

“Oh.” Dad sounded disappointed, and slouched down into his normal posture again. “Yeah, she’s told me that.” With a shrug, Dad wandered back into the kitchen. 

Bones frowned as he followed, but stopped in the doorway to point at Tam. 

“One week.” 

Tam nodded back, understanding the warning. She still didn’t know how to get Dad away from Marlena for ten minutes, so what did one week matter? Hopefully Sinead was enjoying this opportunity. 

**J <3S <3B<3J**

Disney Pluto was everything Sinead remembered from her trips with Jim, now with the added attraction of watching Vulcans squirm. They both kept up the emotionless masks as they worked their way around, from one dome to the next. Each dome was something different, like Adventureland, Tomorrowland, and Frontierland. There was also Epcot, waterparks along the tropics of the planetoid, and Twentieth Century Studios. 

Humans weren’t the only ones enjoying the family friendly atmosphere, though humans and other species all did double takes at the Vulcans in their midst. Spock and Sarek didn’t seem to notice, though Sinead knew they did. Sinead also managed to get a blinding migraine by the time they suggested supper in their hotel suite that Monday night. Sinead agreed, figuring some food, sleep, and silence would get rid of the headache. 

It seemed to, but Tuesday found Sinead buying some painkillers for humans at one of the many stores around them. It helped, but not as much as an even earlier supper in their suite. On Wednesday, they retired to their suite about tea time, and Spock slipped into the shower to wash off the stink of the day. Sinead sat on the couch and rubbed at her head where the headache seemed most concentrated. 

“Headache?” Grandfather inquired as he sat beside her. 

“Yes,” Sinead admitted readily, hoping he’d have a hypo like Bones would have. Instead, Sarek brushed her hair back, and too late Sinead realized he was resting his fingers on her meld points. Sinead forgot all about the shields she pretended to have, built up in her meditations for the focus. Sarek was quickly in her mind and all around it, or something in between. Then, as if he was holding her hand, Sarek was directing her around her mind. 

“This is your pain center. First, tell your body to ignore the signals from the pain center.” 

Sinead worked to do this, imagining herself punching buttons to turn off the signals. She hadn’t realized how bad she felt until it all stopped, except a small patch of pain. 

“Good,” Sarek continued. “Next, we track down the source of the pain, so that we may fix the problem.” 

Instead of following a trail of lightening from one synapse to another, like an educational vid about the brain, Sinead found herself trying to follow the invisible and breakable line of a spider web in the dark. At last they came to a tangle in the silken strand. 

“From here,” Sarek instructed, “you must build your shields again. I will assist you.” 

Sarek did so, helping Sinead build up strong shields. He built them from heavy bricks the color of sand. Before, Sinead had simply imagined walls growing out of the ground, but building them like this was focusing and relaxing. At long last, there was only a small window left, through which Sarek withdrew from her mind. Sinead followed his last instruction and fitted a sand brick into that hole before finding her way to consciousness. 

Spock was sitting across from them, looking over a room service menu. Sinead noticed the menu on the small table before them and picked it up to order as well. Father and Grandfather were finished first, while Sinead was still getting used to feeling well enough to eat. Finally, she chose the quesadilla relleno and submitted her order via the menu. 

“You can order the meat options if you prefer.” Sarek said as she set the menu on the table. 

Father looked to Sarek and flicked him a questioning eyebrow. 

“Is it not curious that T’Amanda would have a headache from inadequate shielding?” Sarek asked Father. 

“Tam’s shields have always been strong.” Father remarked as he turned to look at Sinead. 

Sinead suddenly felt very trapped and ducked her head. Internally, she held on to what Bones had said. They were her family and could only do the logical thing now, if she was found out. 

“One mind touch was enough to determine her identity,” Sarek said, “but Sinead is not psi-null.” 

“Sinead, how is this possible?” Father asked, but he didn’t wait for an answer before moving. He knelt before Sinead and pulled her into his arms, his mind a gentle caress over her newly created shields. Sinead melted into it, and let him hold her until the food came. 

As she ate her vegetarian dish, Sinead explained about meeting Tam at camp, trying to make it all sound like a science experiment and not an emotional need to be with family. At long last, Sinead was out of food and had no choice but to look up and see how they were taking it. Their Vulcan masks were in place, so Sinead saw defeat in that. 

“I guess you’re going to trade me back now.” 

“No.” Father said matter-of-factly, surprising even Sarek. “Walking away from you as an infant was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I am not capable of doing it now that I know you as a person.” 

This time, Sinead flung herself into his arms for a hug, but she added the touch of crying into his shirt. Eventually, she calmed down enough to pretend control, and retreated to her seat. Apparently, while she’d had her little breakdown, Sarek had carried away the dishes and placed a box of tissues on the table. Sinead used a few before bowing to her Grandfather. 

“I apologize for the outburst.” 

“The cause was sufficient,” Sarek said. “I never had the opportunity to meet you before, as I was on New Vulcan when you were born. Spock said I would be invited for a visit when things settled down, but then he turned up on my doorstep with T’Amanda. Joyful as it was to watch her grow, I have regretted your absence. Remember T’Sinead, that Vulcans do have emotions, we simply do not let them control us.” 

“That’s what Bones always told me, even before admitting my other parent had Vulcan blood.” 

“How much of this did Leonard know?” Spock asked, clearly ready for a less emotional conversation. “Did he realize as soon as he saw the haircut?” 

“He suspected when we both had the same haircut, but wanted it to be a coincidence. He only felt he had to find out when I noticed something Tam wouldn’t have. I thought it was obvious that you had kissed Bones.” 

“Indeed?” Sarek asked, both his eyebrows up. “This information does seem to have a restricted distribution.” 

“Leonard has been a friend in a time of great need.” Spock spoke to his father. “You knew that when you asked if he would be interested in coming on this trip.” 

“Had he traveled with us, it would have been illogical to waste credits on a four bedroom suite when only three were necessary.” 

“Are such rooming arraignments really age appropriate?” Spock asked. 

Sinead grinned, loving how the Vulcans would just say stuff like that instead of hinting that something wasn’t to be talked about in front of the kids. Though, she was also kind of annoyed on Bones’ behalf, as Spock didn’t want to talk about his ‘friend’. If Dad was marrying Marlena, why couldn’t Spock and Bones get a happy ending? 

“How about I go take a sonic shower?” Sinead tried for an innocent smile. “I’ll feel less emotional after a sonic, and you can talk without worrying about offending my kid ears.” 

Without waiting for a reply, Sinead got up and left the room. As the door shut behind her, she heard Sarek say ‘Spock’ in the same tone human mothers used when saying their kid’s full name. 

Showering and changing really did make Sinead feel a better and more in control of herself. It also made her feel bad for subjecting them to DisneyPluto, after they both said such loving things. They broke off their conversation as Sinead returned to the room, but she’d expected something like that. She shrugged it off and talked as she crossed back to her spot on the couch. 

“We don’t have to stay here. Dad and Bones brought me before, so I’d be fine with leaving.” 

“Then why did Leonard wish to come?” Spock asked and answered his own question before Sinead could think of a polite answer. “He wished to see the spectacle of Vulcans here, and you have been taking vids of our reactions.” 

“Yeah,” Sinead felt bad even as she admitted it. “Even if you do marry Bones, he’s still going to frame the one of you two meeting Goofy.” 

“I maintain that being forced to wear that outfit is a form of criminal punishment, and not, as you say, a decent starter job.” Sarek said, annoyance, confusion and something of bewilderment showing in the lines beside his eyes. 

“My research indicates that Epcot is more educational as well as less crowded.” Spock offered. “It would be a good place to see if your shields will hold.” 

“You want to stay? I’d enjoy that.” Sinead meant what she said, but she also knew she’d enjoy putting off meeting with her Dad for as long as possible. 

“Sinead,” Spock asked, voice serious. “How long have you needed mental shields?” 

“What?” Sinead asked even as she thought about it. She’d been so worried about discovery that she hadn’t paid much attention to other things. She’d even put the headache down to such a busy place, DisneyPluto being filled by crowds of families while the kids were on summer break. 

“Does needing shields mean I’m telepathic?” 

“You had a rudimentary shield before I joined our minds, though you did not maintain it during my invasion.” Sarek informed them. “Why were they there if you were not taught to protect your mind?” 

“Well, at camp, Tam tried to get me to meditate with her, but I wasn’t interested. That first night in London, when I asked Father to guide me, I really just wanted the attention. I followed his instructions, imagining a wall around what I imagined my brain was. Then I imagined all my problems becoming knots to untangle, to find the root of, like the meditation chant said. But I thought it was just imagination, that it was helpful how meditation normally helps humans. I put up the shields every night during the meditation, but don’t think about them during the day.” 

“I have not led you through the meditation since we’ve been here.” Spock pointed out, but said no more, so Sinead could find her own logical conclusion. 

“Yeah, so I wasn’t meditating as well on my own. My shields got weak and let in the thoughts of others, so I do need the shield because I’m telepathic all of a sudden!” Sinead was smiling, wondering just what she was capable of. Limited empathy, or something cool like she’d read about in sci-fi? 

“She was psi-null when I left her, Father.” Spock was speaking to Sarek, but Sinead hung on to every word. 

“Intriguing. What could wake up the telepathic abilities in a person, and why did these abilities need to be switched on?” 

“What would you have done if I was telepathic?” Sinead asked, and the silence that answered showed they all knew she was talking about then, when she was a baby. 

Spock glanced at Sarek, before turning to Sinead. “With evidence that you needed me, I would have raised you both. But, I know I need to explain more than that.” 

**J <3S <3B<3J**

Spock was nine months, two weeks, and six days pregnant the first time that Jim walked out on him. 

Their last few months on the Enterprise had been blissful compared to what happened as soon as they reached Earth. Arguments had started over little things, like potential names or if they should dress the kids alike. As time passed, arguments were fought over nothing, just an excuse for Jim to yell. What Spock hated most were the arguments he couldn’t understand, where he couldn’t decipher what made Jim angry this time. Jim would see Spock’s confusion, his lack of investment in the fight, and get even angrier. 

Leonard had bachelor quarters on the other side of the Starfleet campus, but he always seemed to be at hand for the end of such arguments. This time, Jim stormed out, leaving Spock without the assistance he needed in getting off the couch, and Leonard appeared out of the kitchen. Leonard almost always had his medical tricorder out and whirring these days, so Spock let himself be scanned as he asked his question. 

“Leonard, what was that fight about?” 

“It’s only a fight if two or more people are participating. That was you dismissing Jim’s feelings and him having a hissy fit at you.” 

“Is there a name for that?” 

“Only in my mind, where I’m calling it fuss and cuss.” 

“Can you clarify my responsibility in the fuss and cuss?” 

“Well, there’s something going on with Jim that I can’t put my finger on just yet, so this is as best I can explain it.” Leonard studied his readings for a moment, to buy himself some time to find his words. “I think Jim needs more excitement than he’s been getting since we got off the ship. He holds it in at work, in public, but when he gets home he’s looking for a safe place to fall apart. He needs to let off some of the rage that’s building up in him. You, you used to give as good as you got, even if it was with logic and not as much yelling.” 

“I require proof that I ever yelled.” Spock felt he had to point out. There was no logic in raising your voice unless the environment was unusually loud. 

“We’ll blame hormones clogging your ears.” Leonard gave him an eye-roll so Spock would know not to take his words literally. “Anyway, here lately, when Jim comes in looking for an emotional outlet, you’ve been shutting him down.” 

“The arguments were accomplishing nothing, so I reasoned it would be more conducive to wait until he was in a better frame of mind to discuss things with him.” 

“Yeah, real logical, but all Jim heard was that you didn’t value his feelings, his needs.” 

“You would seem to be suggesting that if he returns, I begin arguing with him, perhaps even yelling.” Spock found that counterintuitive, so it was probably applicable to humans. 

“Exactly. If he’s still got a bee in his bonnet after you get out of the hospital, then you need to prove you care enough to fight with him, as well as for him.” 

“After I get out of the hospital?” Spock asked with an eyebrow to accent the strange time frame Bones had given him. 

“That last fuss and cuss got your blood pressure up, even if you won’t admit it did, and if you had a vagina, your endometrial waters would be dripping out of it. Congrats, Spock, your water’s broken and we’re beaming to the hospital.” Leonard had his communicator out and was talking to a familiar voice before Spock could protest that he didn’t feel like he was in labor. 

“Starfleet Medical is standing by.” Uhura said over the comm. “Anything else?” 

“Tell Kirk to head there instead of his place when he gets off work, and then contact the rest of the crew.” 

“Uhura out.” 

Ntoya’s sign-off was the last thing Spock heard before the transporter beam caught him. Then he was being helped onto a gurney and Dr. McCoy was in charge. The flare of pain in his gut made Spock consider he might be in labor after all. 

Jim was there, cradling a baby in each arm as he sang to them, when Spock woke up from the anesthetic. For a short time, they were a happy family. This is what Spock clung to for the next year, as things only got worse. 

Jim continued to yell, often waking the girls. He began to make snide remarks about Vulcan mind voodoo, after he noticed Spock trying to meditate with the girls. He refused to believe their Vulcan blood would affect them, and tried to comb their hair to cover the tips of their ears. Leonard could say what he liked, but Spock still believed that Jim regretted having children with Spock. 

Leonard was working at Starfleet Medical, as well as teaching classes for Starfleet medical personal, and Jim was always working or at HQ. This left Spock alone most of the day, so he could meditate with the girls as he saw fit. He was not ashamed; it was only logical to hide this from Jim until he could accept that the girls needed it. T’Amanda had a strong, active mind and clung ferociously to Spock’s mental presence. T’Sinead reacted as a human would, with only a vague awareness of someone in her mind. Like humans, she could receive telepathic signals, but not send them, making her psi-null. Still, Spock meditated with her, getting to know his daughter this way. 

Since mind touching T’Sinead was more like a social call, Spock would mediate with her first. After checking her comfort level, he put her in her crib and took T’Amanda for the deeper mediation and training she needed. To be fair, Jim had not arrived home at a schedule time since he started working at HQ, and had never come home for lunch. As such, Spock had no logical reason to expect Jim to walk in the apartment at a quarter till noon, while Leonard was at Starfleet medical. 

“What are you doing?” Jim’s shout pulled Spock from the beginning of his mind meld with T’Amanda. Jim waited until Spock was able to focus on him and presumable free of the meld, before snatching the baby away. “You know how I feel about you messing with their minds.” 

“Jim, it is important for her development.” 

“Only if we raise them the Vulcan way. Do you not remember how those bastards treated you, and you were way more Vulcan than they’ll ever be!” 

“Vulcan society has had to change since then, but our brains develop the same way.” 

“Yours, not mine, and not my daughter’s.” 

“They are our daughters and we must agree on how to raise them.” 

“Do we? You’re the one messing with their minds behind my back, or at least Tam’s mind. I don’t even see Sinead.” 

“Jim, I have tried to tell you before, but Sinead is psi-null.” 

“Exactly! That means they don’t need Vulcan discipline and Vulcan hate and Vulcan bigotry.” 

Spock felt strongly that the only hate here was what Jim held for him, but he pushed that aside as unimportant. “T’Amanda is psi-positive and Vulcan discipline will be necessary in her life.” 

“The fuck did you do, picking a favorite? Parent’s aren’t allowed to have favorites, and she’ll never be a little clone of you.” 

“I do not want a clone, which you would know if you were around for more than sleep.” 

“I’m securing their future. The daughters of an Admiral will have the best protection Starfleet can offer.” 

“I was not aware that you wished to be an admiral.” 

“We’re parents; it’s not about what we want. It’s about them, and doing what is best for them. I’ve been promoted to admiral, stationed planetside and you’re going to let them have childhoods instead of making Tammy into a robot.” Jim ordered, where he’d never ordered Spock in a civilian setting before. 

“I see, Admiral Kirk.” Spock’s voice was flat and emotionless, the perfect Vulcan tone, and a warning sign to those that knew him. “Are you aware that if I left Starfleet I would no longer be subject to following your orders?” 

“Like you’d be a stay-at-home-husband after they’re in school. The boredom would kill you in a week.” Jim snorted at him, dismissive, as if he thought Spock couldn’t get another position. 

“Perhaps you would consider raising them until time for schooling while I take the teaching position offered to me at the Academy. Or is that beneath you, Admiral?” 

“Quit saying it like that! I’m the youngest admiral in Starfleet history, this is a big deal. I’ve got money and power, so I can give them the best of everything.” 

“Yet we seem to be at an impasse in deciding what is best for them. If you will not listen to the logical and biological reasons that Tam needs the mind melds, than this issue will not be resolved.” 

“You’re the logical one, why don’t you come up with a logical compromise?” Jim sneered at Spock and something in Spock decided enough was enough. 

“I will take T’Amanda with me, and raise her as I see fit, which is in the Vulcan way. You may do as you please with T’Sinead, though I would prefer it if you didn’t allow her to die.” 

“How dare you?” Jim sputtered, and then began screaming his words at Spock. Sinead had probably been awake for all of this, but only now began to cry as the argument reached a new level of noise. 

Spock ignored the noise and the parts of himself that demanded he not do this. Grabbing a diaper bag, he scooped T’Amanda from Jim’s arms and walked out the door. Jim would figure out how to get Sinead to stop crying, or he’d grab her and they come running after Spock. 

Jim never came, but Leonard did. He showed up at Sarek’s door with Spock’s stuff and more clothes for Tam. Leonard tried to talk Spock around, as he swore he was doing to Jim as well. Leonard begged for them at least to raise the girls on the same continent, saying it would be better for the girls. 

For years he’d kept at it, while he continued to be everybody’s doctor. Seven years to that day on the ship, he’d started asking Spock about Pon Farr symptoms. This had continued for almost a year of daily check-ups, until Spock had kissed him to make him shut up. It had progressed slowly from that point, but it had progressed, unlike Spock and Jim’s relationship. 

**J <3S <3B<3J**

Sarek broke the silence after Spock finished his story. “You kissed Leonard only to shut him up?” 

“It is still effective.” 

“I shall have to try that technique the next time I talk with Leonard.” Sarek offered in a perfect Vulcan voice. 

“What do you mean?” Spock asked with a touch of emotion in his voice. 

“The human can be quite annoying; I believe the phrase is he doesn’t know when to stop talking. At the next instance of this, I shall kiss him.” 

“Such behavior would be unusual for you, Father.” 

“True, but it would be illogical to let that stop me from using a tool that works. Unless there is another reason you do not wish for me to kiss him?” 

Spock did not sigh, but it was clear he wanted to. Sinead bit her lip to stop her laughter. 

“Father, I am emotionally attached to Leonard and do not wish for anyone else to kiss him. He has refused being more than what we currently are, however.” 

“Even now that Dad is marrying Marlena?” Sinead asked before she really thought about it. Both men turned to look at her with eyebrows up. 

“Jim is getting married?” Spock asked. 

Sinead nodded. “He still loves you, I think, or at least he regrets you not being in his life. He always hated it when I talked about science, and he refused to let me paint my room blue. There isn’t anything blue in the house. I never understood it, until Tam showed me pictures. He misses you, and associates science blue uniforms with you.” 

“Unusual symptoms, but not unexpected,” Sarek said mostly to himself before turning his attention to Spock. “At the very least, you need to work out custody arraignments with him before he gets married, and that means approving of the woman who would be mother to your children.” 

“Father, I need next week off.” 

“Granted.” 

Just like that, a fully-formed idea was in Sinead’s mind. There had to be a way to wake Jim up and make him see what he was giving up on by marrying Marlena. Even if he didn’t get back with Spock, he would be forced to find somebody better than Marlena. 

**J <3S <3B<3J**


	5. Monkey See, Monkey Splash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terrible Secrets are Reveled!  
> Or  
> Readers of this story learn they were totally right about Marlena's effect on Sinead.

Sinead had visited Bones at work before, usually when she needed medical attention that wasn’t easy to carry out to the ranch. She’d never walked into Starfleet Medical when he wasn’t expecting her, and she’d certainly never been here with Spock. When he told the front desk he wanted to speak with Dr. McCoy, the ensign on duty had nearly hurt himself in his eagerness to comply.

Spock got the wide-eyed, hero-worshiping stares that Dad got. Dad smiled and waved, but at the same time, had bought a house a half an hour past the public transportation line. Father ignored the stares, the same way he and Grandfather had ignored them at DisneyPluto. Father’s fame worked in his favor though, as they got escorted to a doctor’s lounge to wait on Bones. 

Sinead sat so she faced the door, knowing Bones’ reaction would be worth watching. Father sat next to her, and didn’t remark on her taking out her camera to record Bones’ reaction. The door opened and annoyed turned to recognition, to happy surprise, to awareness, to contrition, and all so fast that Sinead would have to slow down the vid to see it all. 

“So, I guess I’m not meeting you at Heathrow in the morning?” Bones asked Spock, trying to sound confused instead of caught. 

“That would not be efficient, as we are spending the weekend at Admiral Kirk’s ranch.” 

With an exhausted sigh, Bones folded into the chair nearest him. “Are you sure that’s a logical assumption?” 

“Sinead has informed me that Jim is getting married. Since this person will be interacting with both my daughters, I need to determine if they are worthy of that honor.” 

Sinead looked to Father, blushing at that statement. Probably as much of a statement of love and pride as a Vulcan parent could utter. 

“Am I? Worthy of being around, since I didn’t tell you about them?” 

Sinead was glad she’d stopped recording, as she didn’t want a reminder of the heartbroken look on Bones’ face as he said that. 

“You have always been more than worthy.” 

Father’s words caused Bones’ face to relax, softening in the moment before he was waving his hand to get rid of the emotionally charged conversation. “Free babysitters are only invaluable when the kids are young. What’s the plan for talking to Jim? Probably too late to get a cake to jump out of.” 

Sinead giggled at the image, and Father only quirked an eyebrow at her instead of asking for clarification. 

“And what’s the punishment for this one?” Bones asked, nodding toward Sinead. 

“Hey!” Sinead protested. She’d never have been able to pull this off is Tam hadn’t agreed to it. “It takes two to tango.” 

“Yes, but I’ll bet money it was your idea, Sinead. They’re both intelligent and creative,” Bones turned to tell Spock, “but this one? Let’s just say she got Jim’s ability to beat you at chess.” 

“You play chess?” Sinead asked Father. She hadn’t seen a chess set at his flat, nor was the game listed in the household computer system Tam had access to. She’d also told Tam that Dad played chess at the Grandmaster level, often entering competitions before he’d met Marlena, but Tam hadn’t even mentioned that Father played. 

“I have many demands on my time.” Father replied, as formal as any Vulcan could ever wish to be. 

“Dad’s just as busy as you, but he still took time to play with me, until Marlena.” Sinead shot back, not finding this a good answer. “He has even less time than you, since he has an hour commute from work to home.” 

Bones laughed, getting the attention of both Sinead and Spock. He was grinning when he spoke. “Tam would have the same observation and mention it out of curiosity. Sinead challenges you with it, wanting to get to the heart of the matter.” 

“Since she was discovered, I have noticed that Sinead is more emotionally aware than Tam.” 

Sinead was aware of the flat quality to Spock’s voice as he spoke, but she wasn’t well enough versed in him to understand it yet. Bones did, and he was up and moving over to sit on the table in front of Spock as he spoke. 

“Hey, you did not damage Tam, raising her the best way you knew how. If I was worried about her emotional intelligence, you know I would have said something. For their age, Sinead is above average in understanding other people. Tam is about average, and that’s the only thing either of them are only average in.” Bones scoffed, prelude to inserting some humor back into things. “Now that they’ll be together all the time, you’ll wish they were average.” 

Father heard every word, but he was still rigid when Bones finished. 

“My shift is over, let’s get gone before an emergency keeps me here.” Bones ordered as he hopped to his feet. “We take the shuttle to Petaluma, and then a cab east to the ranch. It’s a long ride, but we’ll have plenty of time to talk. I’ll even explain what grounding is and why Sinead’s got six months of it to look forward to.” 

“Intriguing. Sinead will gladly tell you of our day at Epcot, though most of her vid footage is from previous days.” 

Sinead laced her hand into Bones’ as he lead the way out of the hospital. “The vid footage? You’re going to love it.” 

**J <3S <3B<3J**

Tam realized she was human enough to yawn as the day slowly crawled by. Marlena had invited some people over for the day. Tam had been introduced to them, given their names, but not their reason for being here. Marlena had started to give them a tour of the house, but Verbena had kept Tam from following. Tam’s only reason to go was to figure out what was going on, so it was extra suspicious that Verbena would develop an interest in spending time with her so suddenly. 

Chekov had come for a new Friday lesson in weapons and tactics, something he’d added after the engagement party. He’d not said anything else about Marlena’s incident, nor accused Tam of being involved; he’d just assumed she’d like to know more. As it was a correct assumption, Tam didn’t try to talk him out of it. Tam was interested in everything and did not know if Chekov would continue to teach her after the switch was known. 

Verbena sat in on the lesson and frowned at Chekov the whole time, as if annoyed he was teaching such a thing. Chekov sent a questioning stare at Tam when he realized Verbena was staying but Tam could only shrug back her own confusion. Verbena asked Chekov to stay for tea, but he almost fled the house. He blamed the gathering storm clouds, and not wanting to be caught out in such weather. Tam didn’t blame him, but once again she was left with Verbena watching her every move, and being around some really boring conversation. 

For Father, Tam had attended diplomatic functions filled with people who refused the simple, logical solutions for emotional reasons. It was frustrating convincing them to change their minds, but it wasn’t boring, at least not on this level. This crowd only wanted to talk of sporting events and modern design. 

Dad arrived shortly after the caterers began to set up for supper, but still much earlier than he usually arrived. He managed to kiss Tam on the head before he was talking to Marlena and the crowd. The kiss was enough to let Tam know he had expected this occasion, whatever the point of it was. Realizing they had an hour or more until supper, and probably another hour after eating until Tam could use exhaustion as an excuse to leave; Tam turned a yawn into a sigh. 

When Verbena went to the restroom, and Tam felt unobserved, she slipped into the nearest empty room. It was the greenhouse, a room that needed to be renamed. It had started out as an in-ground, enclosed pool, the transparent aluminum walls letting in sunlight to warm the water. Gradually, the space had filled with exotic plants that thrived in the warm, moist environment. Tam knew these plants, as Sulu had shown her most of them. Tending to them, Tam found she was much more alert than she had been since Chekov was here. 

“Sinead?” 

The closeness of the voice helped Tam realize it was the third time Dad had called. She turned to respond, wondering why he looked so worried. “Yes, Dad?” 

“It’s time for supper. I’ve been looking all over the house for you.” 

“I apologize, but your guests were not speaking about things I am interested in.” 

“That’s got to be the first time you’ve ever called my guests boring in a polite way.” Dad grinned at her. “Marlena must be rubbing off on you.” 

“If politeness is your objective, I am sure there are less cumbersome teaching methods than marrying Marlena.” 

Dad started to say something, to object or chastise, but he closed his mouth and shook his head. With a sigh, he turned to look outside, to watch how the dark clouds had brought night in early. Sheet lightning occasionally lit up the darkness, hinting at an impressive storm to come. 

“Sinead,” Dad spoke to the see-through wall and not to her. “I know we haven’t talked about this, but I thought you’d understand. I need somebody in my life. Don’t get me wrong, you are my stars. It took me a while to appreciate that, and a very harsh lesson, but I got there. Now, I guess I just need a moon to go with my stars, or something emotional and maudlin like that.” 

“I don’t know if I understand,” Tam admitted, looking out into the same night sky as her Dad. “But I wonder why you think Marlena could be your moon, instead of Bones, or Uhura, or even Chekov.” 

“Me and Chekov?” Dad chuckled at that. “Nah, he’s still got me on a pedestal. I think you and me need to get back to the real world, though.” 

A bright flash of lightning lit up the view at that moment, showing Spock and Sinead staring in. Father faced Jim, and Sinead was about even with Tam. Dad jerked backward as if the lightning had found him. He didn’t get far before he found the edge of the pool. He sputtered as he came up, still trying to see out the wall. Spock and Sinead were gone, the lightning no longer so bright. 

The door to the house opened, and Marlena was standing there. Tam scooted back into the plants, trying to hide. Their guests looked in over Marlena’s shoulder, just in time to see Jim climbing out of the pool. He splashed his way to the door, giving Tam enough time to consider what she’d seen. 

Clearly, they had been found out, though she would have expected Father to comm. instead of sneaking in the back way. Curious, so it would be best to talk to Father and Sinead before admitting to anything, if Dad decided to press for what she had seen. 

“Jim, darling, what are you doing?” Marlena asked, trying to keep her voice light and pleasant around company. 

Tam still heard the annoyance, an emotion she was very used to picking up in Bones’ voice. 

“Just had a clumsy moment.” Dad smiled back at her. “Found Sinead though, so you can start supper. I’ll dry off and be back down.” 

The crowd moved out of the doorway to let Jim splash his way up to his room. Marlena stepped back into the doorway to stare at Sinead. 

“Wouldn’t you like to skip supper?” Marlena asked, pushing a lack of appetite at Tam. 

“If I had known I could be excused from this, I would have left hours ago.” Tam informed her, making it known that she was only skipping supper because her preferences aligned with Marlena’s. 

Marlena made a strange noise in her throat before walking away. 

Tam dismissed Marlena from her mind, as she made her way upstairs. She was planning on getting to her room to see what Sinead had to say. Instead, she stopped when she heard Bones’ voice coming out of the open door of the hallway bathroom. 

“Because you had guests.” Bones said, which was not a helpful place to start overhearing a conversation. 

“You still live here, Bones.” Dad was quick to reply. “Even if I have people over, you don’t have to sneak in the back door like a thief. You don’t even want to know what I thought I saw.” 

Tam crouched down beside the open door, the better to hear without being observed. Dad must have seen Bones in the bathroom and convinced himself he’d seen Bones outside, with her reflection. Leaning to her right, Tam risked a quick glance. Bones hair was damp from being caught in the rain, while Dad was soaked from the pool. Tam settled back to stare at the boring hallway across from her. Sinead must be in her room drying off, but where was Father? Bones would know so it was most logical to wait here until his conversation was over, Tam concluded. 

“Jim, you really think it’s a good idea for me to live here after the wedding?” 

There was a long enough break in the talking that Tam risked another look into the room. 

“You were the one who insisted I date, that I keep trying to find someone. Marlena knows I’d have never asked her out if you didn’t have my back.” 

“Sure, I’m a great wingman, but did you tell her that wasn’t all I was?” 

“Like anybody has time to hear my sordid history.” Dad dismissed that before pulling his wet shirt off. 

“Honesty matters, Jim. How many times …” 

“Don’t,” Jim interrupted to command. “You’re the one who kept us friends, breaking off the benefits whenever I got serious about someone else. Sure, the deal was if either of us got serious, but I don’t remember you even dating.” 

There was another long silence, so Tam looked. They were kissing, touching only with gentle lips. Bones had on dry clothes, while Dad was still in his wet pants, but barefoot. Dad tilted his head to move their lips apart and touch foreheads instead. 

“I will always make a place for you in my life, wherever you want that place to be.” Jim stated clearly, though his voice was heavy with emotions. 

Dad had never sounded that emotional when talking to or about Marlena, and Tam frowned at this discrepancy. 

“Jim, I only needed one planet dividing relationship to learn that I’m Tam o’Shanter!” Bones jerked back, staring at where Tam’s head peered around the corner. 

Caught, Tam stood to give herself up, hands behind her back. 

“And what have you got to say for yourself?” Dad asked with a frown. 

“Nothing relevant,” Tam answered truthfully as she had no defense for what she’d been doing. “Though I will admit to curiosity about the benefits of friendship that you have enjoyed.” 

Bones sputtered, but Dad issued a command even as he turned an interesting shade, perhaps magenta? 

“Go to your room.” 

As that had been her original destination, Tam went without another word. Father and Sinead were meditating on the floor when she entered. The layout of the room limited the places she could sit, so she folded into the loshiraq pose to Father’s left side. Tam managed two meditative breaths before fingertips brushed gently against her meld points. Tam tried not to lean into that contact, but she opened her mind readily for Father. 

There was a moment of recognition and acceptance, a welcome much like Dad’s earlier kiss to the top of her head. Tam waited for Father to speak but instead he touched her mind and lead her away. There was a shift of perspective, and then Tam was in a strange yet familiar place. She was welcomed happily by Sinead, and she realized Father had joined their minds. Tam wasn’t expecting a lesson in this for years yet, so she took a moment to experience it before talking to Sinead. 

“You have an exuberant mind.” 

“Bet you say that to all the brains you visit.” Sinead shot back, but in this place she couldn’t hide the warmth and joy she felt towards Tam. Nor could she hide the way that happiness faded into regret for her next words. “I’m sorry. Grandfather figured it out because I didn’t think about refusing the mind meld he offered.” 

“You were in significant pain,” Father interjected, his presence up until now being only a protective layer. “Apologies are unnecessary but forgiveness is granted.” 

“We knew it couldn’t continue indefinitely,” Tam added, “even if we forgot to factor in Bones’ observational skills. Forgiveness is unnecessary, but granted.” 

“Unnecessary, but appreciated.” Sinead offered with warmth in her mind voice. “I think I managed to explain to Father why we didn’t just confront them when we found out.” 

Sinead was shifting the subject to one that was less emotional, more fixable, and everyone was fine with that. 

“Allow me to show you both the cause of this situation.” Father said, giving them a moment of stillness before he showed them a memory, the same one he’d tried to explain to Sinead on Pluto. 

Immersed in it, the girls got to see the final fight with Jim, from Spock’s eyes. They could watch from Jim’s unexpected arrival to their Starfleet appointed apartment. He was tense when he walked in, the anger only adding to the rigidness of his stance. Bouncing on his toes, Jim accused Spock of favoritism. When he paced, he kept his eyes on Spock, hands still gentle around Tam. They were not treated to the sight of his face when Spock left, for Spock had not dared to look back. They were taken from the memory as Spock of the past began to realize what he had done, before his emotions could reach his witnesses. 

Spock and Tam felt Sinead’s strong desire for a hug, but Father directed their attention elsewhere. 

“Leonard is in the room and we need to talk with him. Tam, return to your mind while I escort Sinead out of the meditation.” 

“Yes, Father.” Tam agreed readily, though this would be her first time to try this. Still, she was more experienced than Sinead, having been guided through meditation and melds by Father and Grandfather. Tam knew the principles and had only to apply them. Knowing that Father was probably observing, even as he helped Sinead, Tam took a moment to prepare, and began. 

Physically, the electrical impulses of Vulcan telepathy ran from the point of contact, but that point was not always the fingertips. Attempting to follow the signals could be confusing, much like trying to follow the path of the sewers while on the surface streets. Instead, Tam looked for the intangible connection to her physical form, a small silver light almost lost in the radiance of Father’s strength. It got easier to find when she was free of Sinead’s mental landscape, perhaps because they were so in tune that she blended into Sinead’s mind. Eventually though, she was back in her body, and able to return to awareness. 

Opening her eyes, Tam noticed Bones watching them from where he was sitting at the desk. He looked very sad, until he noticed Tam’s eyes were open. He plastered a smile on his face, but the sadness took longer to dispel from his eyes. 

“Father and Sinead will join us in a moment.” Tam told him and his face achieved a more natural expression, though one Tam could not read. He looked apologetic and humored at the same time. 

“Don’t know if that’s a good thing, Tam. Both your dads are about to be real mad at me.” 

“As I believe Sinead would say, they’ll get over it or have me to deal with.” 

Bones laughed at that. “I’m pretty sure that last bit is all you.” 

“What?” Sinead asked as she blinked up at them. “You don’t think I can be hard to deal with?” 

“Having been raised by you and Jim,” Spock joined in to say, “I would think Sinead could be extremely intractable and insouciant.” 

“Sinead will start something,” Bones agreed with a nod, “but Tam will finish it.” 

“I look forward to knowing them as well as you do.” Spock replied, bowing his head in Bones’ direction. “I have come to establish an updated custody arrangement, so that the girls are not separated again.” 

Sinead leaned over to hug Spock. He accepted her embrace with more grace than Tam expected, and then his long arm was pulling Tam into the hug. It was pleasant, and warm, and Tam was willing to let Father hold them until he was done. Sinead pulled away first, and Father released Tam to turn and look at her. 

“While at camp, did you attempt to mind meld with Sinead?” 

“No, Father, though I was tempted.” Tam acknowledge the truth. “Sinead told me she was psi-null, so I abided by your warnings.” 

“Got something against psi-nulls now?” Bones asked, trying for offended but coming across to Tam as amused and confused. 

“As a doctor, you should be aware of the psi-negative beings in the universe.” Spock paused to give Bones a look before continuing his lecture, based on the assumption that Bones didn’t actually know. “Psi-null people can receive with varying degrees of responsiveness. Psi-positive people actively receive or transmit mental signals. There are some species that have developed psi-negatively, usually in response to a psi-positive predator. They passively absorb the mental energies of others.” 

“Telepathic sponges?” Sinead asked, excitement in her voice. 

“The comparison is valid,” Father agreed with a nod. “Tam has not undergone the necessary training to extract herself from such an encounter.” 

“Fine, makes as much sense as any of your mumbo jumbo does.” Bones agreed while rolling his eyes. “What’s that got to do with the price of apples?” 

“Nothing, Leonard, I was only explaining why Tam did not rush into a meld with Sinead. As Sinead is now psi-positive, it was the first step to determining the cause.” 

Spock said it so matter-of-factly that it took Tam a moment to really absorb what he’d said, and think about it. “I have never heard of such a thing.” 

“Nor have I,” Spock confirmed. “Doctor?” 

Bones let out a deep breath and scratched at his head. “I’ve seen people with traumatic brain injuries wake up with new accents, or fluent in new languages. There was even that one time Uhura forgot all the languages she knew except Swahili. Normal people, who don’t leave their atoms all over space, can suddenly develop allergies to things they’ve used for years, and Lord only knows what adrenaline makes us capable of.” 

Despite his informal way of putting things, Spock still waited for Bones to get his opinion worked out. Tam didn’t often consider their relationship, or think too much about their doctor spending the weekends with them, but on occasions like this, she wondered. Father was polite to everybody, but clearly respected Bones for his expertise. Tam found it increasingly interesting. 

“As hard to quantify as it is, telepathy isn’t an allergy.” Bones was slowing down as he got closer to possible reasons. “And I checked for brain injuries and illnesses when Sinead started getting those headaches.” 

“Headaches?” Father asked. 

“Oh,” Sinead said in a soft voice. A pause, and then she was talking, loud and excited. “I started getting headaches, just little ones at first so I took some over the counter stuff. Dad was really trying to get me and Marlena to hang out, so we were meeting at least once a day, for supper or a vid, for a couple months. I just thought it was all that extra running around, but the headaches got worse, until Dad was out of the over the counter stuff. Maybe he got headaches too? So I went to you, Bones, and you couldn’t just give me the stuff, you had to run tests and prod. It was fine by me because I didn’t have to go golfing with Dad and Marlena. The camp people were supposed to give me some if I complained of headaches, but I didn’t have one, not the whole time I was gone. Don’t know where it is, forgot all about it. Then I started getting headaches at Disney, but they were way worse. Felt centered in my brain instead of just all over.” 

Sinead hesitated as Bones’ scanner appeared out of thin air to start whirring around her. 

“Grandpa fixed my headaches by making me mental shields, good ones instead of what I thought they should be. But after we started meditating at the London flat, Father, when I went out in public with my pretend mental shields, that’s when I didn’t get headaches.” 

“Headaches are symptoms, kid, not causes.” Bones added while he stared at his readings. 

“The symptoms are from having things shoved at my brain I wasn’t ready for.” Sinead sniped back at Bones. “Tam didn’t try a mind meld, and none of the others we hung out with at camp were telepathic, so no problems. But there were telepathic species at Disney, plus a huge number of humans. The only thing we have to figure out is where I was getting telepathic impulses from when I was with Dad.” 

“Marlena’s telepathic touch is unrefined and could potentially cause damage.” Tam remarked, ill prepared for Father and Bones to both stare at her so intensely. 

“I was under the impression that Marlena was human,” Father commented, as if he was not invested in that distinction. 

“As far as I knew, she was.” Sinead defended herself. “Not very special, but human.” 

“This is why you asked if I’d seen her medical records.” 

“Yes,” Tam replied to Bones’ statement. “I wanted to know her abilities without making you aware of the switch Sinead and I made.” 

“What has she done to you?” Father asked, Vulcan mask fully in place. 

“Mostly she sends me the desire to obey, or tries to convince me that behaving would make me feel good.” Tam didn’t have to consider it for very long, having wanted to ask about this since she’d first arrived. “When she is about to leave, she pressures me to think that her return will be wonderful, so that I miss her when she is gone.” 

“Projected emotional manipulation without consent or knowledge is a crime in all Federation territory.” 

“Easy, Spock.” Bones said as he came to stand in front of Father, who hadn’t actually moved from the ground yet. Still, Bones must be expecting some action from Father. “You know you can’t just walk down there and arrest her or demand Jim meld with you to see if she’s messing with his mind.” 

“Should I make an appointment?” Spock asked Bones with a challenging raise of his right eyebrow. 

“Dad and Marlena have an appointment tomorrow at St. Andrews.” Tam remembered, unsure of the relevance and seeking further information. 

“Oh, God, let’s arrest her now so we don’t have to go!” Sinead cried from the floor, sagging in an exaggerated fashion. 

“What is St. Andrews, and why would Dad want to go with the boring people from tonight’s dinner?” Tam had overheard their plans before she’d made her escape to the greenhouse. 

“It’s not a bad place, but they’re not going to visit the aquarium. St. Andrews is where golf was invented, a game so boring to watch that even Chekov doesn’t claim the Russians invented it.” Sinead explained. 

Bones didn’t seem to be listening, but Father was. 

“Marlena and Verbena set up two foursomes to play, and then they have a fancy lunch together at the Swilcan Restaurant. They take me, but I only get to watch them play, walking around with them and keeping quiet. What is the point of that?” 

“Sinead, will you hand me that padd?” Father asked, and Sinead reached over to snag it off the desk. 

Bones had stopped scowling at his instruments and was looking at Father, as if waiting for something. After a few thoughtful moments on the padd, he got something from Father. 

“Tam, you will continue to be Sinead for the next day. Leonard, you will find someplace for Sinead and I to sleep without Jim finding us. In the morning, Tam will travel with Jim, while the rest of us make our own way to St. Andrews. I will meditate on this tonight, but our objective is to make Marlena lose her control. Perhaps she will lash out telepathically, and allow me to determine her abilities.” 

“You’re thinking she doesn’t know that Sinead has a twin.” Bones commented, a smile growing on one side of his face. “I don’t think she does.” 

Tam found the smile on Sinead’s face to be completely different than the ones Bones wore, but both promised great things. 

**J <3S <3B<3J**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My original works are under Nani Nicks, available on [ Smashwords ](https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/580261), [ Amazon ](http://www.amazon.com/Telling-Truths-Investigatrix-Book-1-ebook/dp/B015X38AEG/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1443490345&sr=1-2&keywords=nani+nicks)


	6. The Family that Golfs Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is so much I feel like apologizing for with this ending, starting with how long it took to get it written, but can't without giving away the story. So I won't, but I will say this:  
> Don't write the climax of the story on the field of a sport you don't like, as you will have to research a sport you don't like.   
> But hopefully it's funny sport and not an insult to the people who do like it?

Dad woke Tam with a kiss to the forehead, and apologies for waking her so early. It was even earlier than Tam preferred, but not as early as needed to take a shuttle to Scotland. Tam had learned to appreciate a lie-in since she'd been Sinead, so she found it logical that Dad was abusing his rank to have them beamed over.

Tam had studied up on golf and raided the closet last night, so she was able to dress quickly. Blue jeans were common enough not to have minor differences in them easily noted, especially if the shirt was long enough to cover the pockets. Sinead had two grey t-shirts, the only difference between them was the length of the sleeves. Tam took the one with longer sleeves, leaving Sinead the one labeled “baby doll”, after making sure the t-shirt would fit a person and not a very large doll that Sinead did not seem to have. Tam had the sensible black ankle boots that she wore riding, and dug out a mid-calf pair of black boots that would look similar under the jeans. 

Jackets would be prudent in the Scottish climate, even in the summer, but Sinead did not have matching jackets. She did have a grey jacket with a black inner liner, and Tam turned it inside out. Hopefully it would look similar to the black raincoat she left out for Sinead. Taking an idea from Marlena, Tam laid out the matching outfit on the bed, shoes sticking out from under the bed. Just so Sinead would get the message; Tam took a holo of herself and laid it on the bed too. She then added a few unique items to her pockets and went to the kitchen. 

Dad seemed surprised to see her there so early, without further prompting, so Tam frowned at him as if annoyed and not wanting to talk. He held his hands up in surrender, and moved out of the way. Tam had a muffin, pocketing the honey when no one was looking. Marlena joined them, looking perfectly together and awake, before they beamed to Scotland. 

Tam didn't know what Bones was always complaining about, as she found it an efficient way to travel when possible, and as safe as any other means. They even arrived a few minutes before their scheduled tea time, so they had time for a cup of tea. Tam had expected to have tea when they got there, but apparently this was not the preferred method of starting a round of golf. She realized she had missed the tea traditions of London and Vulcan while with her Dad, but he didn't seem to notice her familiarity with the beverage. 

After tea, they met the rest of their group. Jim and Marlena partnered with a couple from the night before, Glenn and Hazel, who had talked of modern design and overused the word gauche. Verbena had another couple with her, investment managers, and a stranger in a funny hat. Apparently, their fourth had been unable to attend and this woman was a replacement, a tourist who had wanted to try the famous course. That didn't explain the plaid hat with the fuzzy ball on top, but Tam decided not to worry about her. 

Her reading about golf had mainly taken the form of determining the best method of throwing off a player. Noise was considered the most detrimental to a swing, but Tam knew that she wouldn't be able to shout at Marlena constantly without it being obvious what she was up to. Instead, she took the lid off the honey and dropped the container into Marlena's golf bag. 

It was an auto-caddying bag, tottering around after Marlena on nine spindly legs. Marlena's was bright pink with brown polka-dots, so easy to tell apart from the other two’s. Dad was the only one who didn't have a robotic one, just carrying his bag over his shoulder. As they determined the order of play, Tam was able to open a draining valve on Marlena’s bag, to help the bugs find the honey. As they played and walked between holes, Tam used her little phaser to try and heat the metal clubs so they would bend, but not bend enough to be noticeable. 

They were on the third hole when Tam heard her name whispered from a clump of purple-flowered bushes. After a quick look around, Tam slipped into what she thought was called heather. Sinead grinned at her, nodding at their matching outfits before she moved out to join the group. Bones was staring at the flowers like he thought they might suddenly squirt toxins in his face, but pulled Tam into a hug. He had to release her to talk, but kept an arm looped over her shoulders. 

"Sinead knows what we've planned, and Spock's out playing with his remote controlled golf ball." 

"Where did Father get a drone golf ball?" 

"He asked an old friend to explain the game, and the thing showed up this morning." Bones shrugged, as if such things were common in life. "General idea is to harass and distract Marlena until she pushes back telepathically, so Spock can get an idea of her abilities. Sinead's in charge of verbal taunting, so it looks like you'll have to make sure Marlena gets the trick golf ball when the time comes, and any other harassment we can come up with. I saw you messing with her bag, what'd you do?" 

"I read that the clubs need to be very straight, so I attempted to warm them enough that the angle of holding in the bag would bend them." 

"Subtle, and not something she can check in the middle of a game.” Bones nodded his approval. “But why is there a cloud of flies around her bag?" 

"That would probably be the result of the bottle of honey I dropped in there. Would you please dispose of the lid so I am not caught with it?" Tam held out the lid, which Bones took with a proud grin. "This plan does not sound as precise as Father prefers. I expected him to have more detailed instructions this morning." 

"I kind of distracted him from planning better." Bones looked away to shrug this time. "The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to hogtie Jim and check his brain for damage." With a nod to the greenway, Bones indicated the group. "They're on the next hole." 

Tam recognized that she was also being distracted but decided to focus on Marlena for now. Bones took Tam's hand, trying to conceal his worry from her telepathic abilities. They probably looked like people casually strolling the beach next to the historic course, but Tam was wondering what Bones was worried about. When they walked behind a sand dune that separated the course from the ocean, Tam was able to hear Sinead talk. 

"Hey, Dad," Sinead asked as Marlena readied her ball for a drive." 

"Yeah, kid?" Dad answered softly, careful not to interrupt Marlena’s concentration. 

"Where's Moscow?" 

"I'd have thought anything in that region was Chekov's primary concern, but Moscow is in the Russian Free States." 

"No, it's not." Sinead replied, "It's in the barn, next to pa's cow." 

There was a moment of silence where Marlena's club was visible above the sand dune. As it started to descend, there was a groan from Glenn, and Dad choked back a laugh. Marlena's ball jumped into the air and landed much further to the right than everybody else's ball had. 

Tam marveled, not at the terrible pun, but at Sinead's timing. Marlena was projecting anger, but it couldn't focus on Sinead yet. Instead, she was mad at Jim for laughing and at Glenn for reacting at all. Tam was also sure the pun would irritate Chekov terribly. Clearly, letting Sinead deal with audio interruptions was a logical decision and Tam could appreciate not having been put in a position where she would not be as effective. As they moved to onto the green, chasing their balls, Sinead dropped over the side of the sand dune. 

“Dad hates admitting it, but he loves puns.” Sinead whispered to them, aware that Verbena’s group wasn’t too far behind. “I’ve got worse ones.” 

“I have some contact adhesive that should ruin Marlena’s course average.” Tam offered as she dug into her pocket, relieved to see Sinead smile at her. 

“Perfect, that’ll drive her nuts. Who’s the woman in the tam o’shanter?” 

“The what?” Tam asked. 

“On Verbena’s team, the one in the funny hat?” Sinead clarified. 

“A last minute replacement when their planned fourth player did not arrive. What did you say that type of hat is called?” 

“A tam o’shanter. Why, never hear Bones use it as a cuss?” 

“Now that you mention it, I have. Just last night in fact.” 

“What happened?” Sinead asked, eyes bright with curiosity. 

“One of you needs to be with the group, before they notice you’re gone.” Bones groused, grabbing Tam and boosting her up onto the sand dune. 

“Fine.” Tam told them, before hurrying off to join Dad’s group, watching as Marlena ineffectively swatted away insects. Apparently Bones was distracting Tam now, not wishing to talk about what she’d seen in the bathroom. That was a matter for later. Tam reached the foursome in time for them to begin discussing putters, and it wasn’t too terribly long before they were moving on to the next hole. 

After consulting a scorecard padd, Dad went first, Hazel second, and Marlena third. Marlena was strongly projecting the desire to be silent, but looking out at the green. Guessing she'd only turn to look if Tam made noise, Tam worked as quickly and silently as she could. 

Tam grabbed a ball and painted a ring of contact glue around it, before trying to put it back on top of the ball sack inside the auto-caddie. Putting the ball back was easier said than done, as the glue was invisible when first applied and couldn’t come into contact with anything or it’d stick. It was a slow-drying, permanent adhesive, meant for stationary things. But with each hit of Marlena's club, the ball rolled slower as grass and debris stuck to it. 

Marlena was almost lucky, in that when she sliced the ball off to the left of the hole, the adhesive kept it from going too far. As they neared it this time, Tam saw the ring of green buried under sand as Marlena dug a hole with her club, a divot. Tam had also learned that the average number of strokes it took to finish a hole was known as par, which allowed Tam to be amused when Marlena finished eighteen above par. Tam provided a new ball, freshly treated with glue, on the next hole. The tee tried to stick to the ball this time, but Marlena was only fifteen over par in the end. 

Now Marlena was leaning on her auto-caddying bag, either for strength or to make sure that nobody touched anything in it. Tam took the hint, and traded out with Sinead at the next chance. Father was waiting in the heather, practicing with his remote controlled golf ball. He showed Tam how it worked, while Sinead took two holes to get Marlena red in the face. Tam noticed Sinead's smirk as they switched places, and that Dad seemed to be biting his lip to keep from laughing. Tam was impressed with her sister, having no idea what to say to purposely garner such reactions. 

Marlena was still guarding her bag as she moved up to tee off. As the person with the highest and worst score, Marlena teed off last. The other three were avoiding looking at her in her obvious anger, so she and Tam were the only ones to see Sinead next to the distant hole. Marlena turned to make sure Tam was there, and then she looked back down the green. Sinead was gone, and Tam had traded out the balls. 

Marlena glared at Tam, willing her to feel pain. Tam frowned in confusion but that must have been enough to convince Marlena that Tam was hurting. Pain was a product of the mind, the brain's way of making the body stop doing something that was damaging to it. Vulcan philosophy was not the only one in the universe that suggested the brain could overcome most pain. What had Tam frowning was the idea that Marlena knew this and was willing to use it to her advantage. Most intriguing, was that it had taken little more than a bad game to get her to the point to do so. 

Marlena turned back to the game, and had a decent shot. She must have found one of the clubs Tam hadn't managed to bend out of alignment with her small phaser. Father let the shot go, resisting the obvious temptation to make it go so badly off course that Marlena had no chance of making par. The ball was almost as close to the hole as the other golfers, and Marlena happily replaced her club in her bag. 

At the last minute, the ball rolled on, sliding around the hole. The gentle touch of her putter had it rolled back to almost where it started. With a hopeful noise, Marlena tried again, only to see her hopes crushed. Father either had a better understanding of emotions than he admitted to, or he was letting Bones dictate how to treat the person that had mentally assaulting his children. The second hole with the drone ball was twenty-two hope-dashing shots over par. 

Marlena threw her club on the ground and yelled. "I need a drink." 

The other couple agreed readily, unsure in the presence of this angry person who was usually such a charming hostess. Dad went along, as he seemed to do with everything. Verbena's foursome behind them caught up quickly, as Marlena was taking so long at each hole, and they agreed to a restorative beverage as well. 

Outside the clubhouse, Tam saw a very familiar figure in the window. Sinead had taken off her jacket and tied it around her waist. As Tam did the same, she realized that the jackets might not look the same with everybody sitting still, able to focus on her a little better. Walking up to the bar, the gaggle of golfers ordered drinks before moving over to a table. Marlena's drink was carried over by Sinead before the rest of the group had finished ordering. Sinead must have paid attention at some party and knew what drink Marlena would prefer, as ordering it before Marlena arrived was the only explanation of how quickly it was ready. 

When Marlena's actual drink was ready, Tam carried it to her, after a confused look from the bartender. Tam switched out the empty glass with the full one, and set the empty under the table as she sat next to Dad. Marlena jerked backward when she saw it, looking around the table in confusion. She stared at Tam, who made it obvious that she was politely paying attention to something that was going on, over on the far side of the table from Marlena. After a careful sniff, Marlena sipped the drink, and then guzzled it as she had the first one. Tam knew the drink wasn't poison, as Father and Bones could do many things to Marlena before they got around to doctoring her drinks. 

When Marlena loudly excused herself to the little girls' room, Tam knew Sinead would have heard, so she distracted Marlena. 

"I dislike that phrase, little girls' room. It is unnecessarily convoluted, and inadequately expresses the function of a normal sized room for people of all sizes." 

Dad snickered, which got Marlena to stop glaring at Tam to glare at Jim. While he tried to look contrite, Marlena went to the bathroom. Sinead had plenty of time to slip in though, and Marlena's expression when she returned a few minutes later would show if Sinead had seized the opportunity. 

Marlena came out, eyes blazing and determination in her step, all of which faltered when she saw Tam sitting there still. Behind her, Sinead darted out of the bathroom and hid behind a potted plant. Marlena turned, going back to look in the bathroom. Sinead probably found a better hiding place, for when Marlena came back out to search the pub, Tam was all she found. Even Jim was now looking at her in confusion, which Marlena put down to wanting to get back to the game. 

Back on the green, Marlena teed up with an iron grip on her chosen ball, so Tam was not able to change it out with the drone. An over enthusiastic hit gave the ball enough momentum that it was able to fly over the hole to plop nicely into the ocean. Tam hoped the golf people were going to pick that up, as Marlena was yelling and beating at the ground with her club. Glenn and Hazel traded worried looks, but walked with Marlena to the next hole, offering consoling words she wasn’t listening to. Tam followed behind, reinforcing her shields so Marlena’s anger wouldn’t influence her. 

At the next hole, Tam easily traded out the ball for the drone, as Marlena was glaring at the ocean. She was also pushing a need to be silent at everyone around her, and Dad was rubbing at his head a little. When his communicator went off, he wisely stepped out of hearing range before answering it. Tam could still hear what he said, but it was doubtful anyone else could. Remembering that Sinead had called this a superpower, Tam decided to use it for good. 

“I don’t know who he’s talking to, but he’s saying she frequently.” Tam mentioned casually to Marlena. Tam didn’t mention that ‘she’ had a radiation leak, so probably wasn’t sentient. 

Marlena stared at Jim, then swiveled back to Tam. She sent Tam a mental compulsion to obey. “Tell me.” 

“She’s fine, right? Dad said. The other person says she’s fine, but contagious so he can’t visit.” Tam shrugged and looked at Marlena with wide eyes. “I thought for sure you had him completely enraptured. But it sounds like he’s got another woman manipulating him for his worldly goods.” 

Marlena shrieked, not bothering to lash out mentally as she raised her club and ran at Tam. Tam dropped into the defensive posture of _Suus Mahna_ Father had taught her, hoping she really could take out a much larger, less logical opponent. Marlena wasn’t that far from Tam, but before she got to her, a hand grabbed Marlena’s club and jerked her back. The club was tossed aside and Marlena was on the ground, arm around her throat before Tam realized Dad had rescued her. He straddled the grounded Marlena, who was trying to keep her face out of the dirt, and looked up at Tam. 

“Did she touch you?” 

“No.” Tam responded quickly to the demand for information. 

Dad nodded at her and bent down to speak to Marlena. “I’m an equal opportunity bastard, which means if you come near my daughter again I will tear you into just as many pieces as I would anyone.” 

“That won’t be necessary.” Offered an unexpected voice, the tourist in the tam o’shanter who’d joined Verbena’s foursome. She knelt in front of Jim and Marlena, holding out her identification card. “Kestra Hagan, Federation Security.” 

“Mental crimes division?” Admiral Kirk asked for clarification of what he read off her badge. 

“Yes, sir. I’m Betazoid, telepathically sensitive enough to have witnesses several attempts by this woman to emotionally manipulate the people around her this morning.” 

“You’re Federation, not Starfleet,” The admiral noted, “So you’re not here to guard me.” 

Hagan hesitated before she answered, and Tam knew this new version of her Dad would notice. All of the go-along-to-get-along attitude he’d had since she’d known him was gone, smothered under blazing eyes and a commanding presence. It was impressive, and Tam wondered if this was the man that Father missed so much. 

“Sir, my orders were not related to you, though I will be using her manipulation of you in her list of crimes.” 

“Why are you here? Did you expect violence against a minor? Where you going to sit by while Marlena assaulted my child?” 

“Technically speaking,” Father interrupted the questioning Dad was doing from atop the prisoner, “Marlena was not assaulting Sinead.” 

Dad stiffened further at Spock’s voice, but picked up Marlena’s arm to hand to Hagan before he stood. He watched as Hagan took the arm and helped Marlena stand. Hagan produced a pair of hand-binders and began to recite the Federation standard Maranda rights. Verbena stood beside Marlena with a shocked expression, watching her get arrested. Only then did Dad turn to look Father in the eye, body military straight. 

“Explain.” 

“Sinead was safe with me at the time of the attack.” Spock stated, with a look to Sinead who was standing next to Bones, Uhura, and Chekov. 

Tam raised an eyebrow at that, wondering when Uhura and Chekov had arrived and why. But Dad had swung around to look at her, so Tam’s attention was back on him. He knelt again, this time to put his hands on her shoulders. He looked as if wanted to pull her in for a hug, but he didn’t. He held her at arm’s length while he looked at her. 

“T’Amanda?” Jim finally asked and Tam could only nod at him. He didn’t hug her then, instead choosing to stand and face Spock while his hand rested on Tam’s cloth covered shoulder. 

Tam found she was frowning at his blocked touch there, as it meant she wouldn’t be able to sense his mood. Getting her face back to neutral, she focused on the intense way Father and Dad were staring at each other. 

“Hagan has often provided security for ambassadorial functions, so I asked her to step in today.” Father offered as a neutral beginning to the conversation. “I have been impressed with her abilities to improvise.” 

“Well, I’m not happy to know Marlena’s telepathically manipulating me, but I’m glad there is a professional to deal with her.” Jim looked around again. “I’m not sure why Uhura is here though.” 

Strange that Dad would notice Uhura before Bones or Chekov, though he had probably noticed Bones and dismissed his presence as Bones was frequently around. Even now, Bones was running his scanner over Marlena and nobody questioned what Bones was doing. 

“Chekov asked for my help in looking up the people he noticed your fiancé acting weird around.” Uhura said, speaking for herself. 

“When I came out from the tutoring session yesterday, I noticed a bunch of expensive flitters. Werbena was acting weird, watching Sinead like a hawk.” Chekov shrugged but kept close to Uhura. “So I took down some numbers.” 

“Your golfing buddies there,” Uhura nodded to Glenn and Hazel, “are looking to build a luxurious resort near California wine country. Know anywhere like that?” 

Jim pivoted to face Glenn and Hazel, who clutched their golf bags close to them. “My ranch is not for sale.” 

“We have signed contracts.” Hazel snapped back, but Jim didn’t seem impressed. 

“They are invalid as the ranch is in Sinead’s name, and only three adults can legally sign papers for her. Marlena is not one of them.” Jim turned to look to Marlena, Hagan holding her and looking very interested in the conversation. “Is that why you’re still sucking up to these people, and trying to hurry up the wedding? Can’t wait to sell my home out from under me, afraid they’ll move on to other prospects and you won’t get all that money?” 

“I’ll sue you for breach of promise!” Marlena shouted, but there didn’t seem to be any mental push behind it, at least not one Tam could feel. 

“Good luck finding a lawyer for that while you’re in jail.” Jim started to turn away so Marlena began screaming. 

“I’ve not done anything wrong, just used what I got, so I’ll get out. I’ll find someone else, someone better than you. Someone without kids! I’m good at what I do, and I like being a kept woman. It won’t be long before I ruin you, Jim Kirk. Someday you’ll beg me to buy your filthy house, and make your hybrid bastar ... ” 

Marlena might have had more to say, but Spock didn’t want to hear it. Tam considered Marlena was lucky to only get a nerve pinch. Verbena was now weeping and clinging to Marlena as if she thought she was dead. Hagan rolled her eyes, and pulled out her communicator. Glenn and Hazel had gotten a clue as well, as they were quietly walking away from the conversation that had brought the golf course to a standstill. As Marlena, Verbena and Hagan faded out, Scotty became visible behind them. 

“I thought you were orbiting Venus?” Dad asked the grinning man. 

“Sure, yeah, working on long range transporters. It’s early for human testing, right now the main issue is how much power it takes and I almost didn’t have enough to make it, after sending Spock my little gift, but when I heard where this little interdiction was taking place, well, I had to come didn’t I?” 

“You transported here from Venus?” Tam asked. “When we last spoke you said it would be years yet before you figured that out.” 

“Ah, yes, well, sometimes it’s better to make a conservative estimate.” Scotty shrugged and gave a knowing grin that Tam didn’t understand. “Anyway, I’ll have to take the shuttle back as it’ll be a few more weeks before Venus station has the needed power stored for another run.” 

Clearly, Scotty thought public transport was punishment enough for using untested equipment. Dad grinned and shook his head, but turned to face Father as the grin dropped away. 

“The girls met at camp and switched places on us to learn the truth.” Father informed Dad. “When I learned of this, I knew we had to come to a new custody arraignment.” 

“Yes. I’m sure whatever you came up with will be logical.” 

Jim’s voice was flat, and Tam didn’t think he meant it as an insult, but that seemed to be how Spock took it. 

“You had sufficient time to register a complaint about my last logical solution.” 

“A logical solution shouldn’t be all I can expect of you!” 

“I mistakenly expected you to provide the human thing to do.” Father bit back. 

“What?” Dad asked, confusion in his voice. “You wanted me to come up with something different?” 

“My God, Jim!” Bones called, storming over to join the yelling. “I’ve been telling you that for ten years! Yes, idiot, you were supposed to go after him.” Bones whirled around to point an accusing finger at Spock. “The whole time you lived together, did you ever tell him you weren’t just with him for the kids? The universe knows you love him, but did you ever tell him?” 

Bones stood back so he could glare at both of them, hands on his hips. Sinead folded her arms across her chest and tried to match Bones’ glare. If Father and Dad weren’t yelling at each other, strangers to how Tam had ever known them, Tam would have found the sight amusing. Dad crouched down to trace his thumb over Tam’s left eyebrow, getting her attention again. 

“I love you, and I’m sorry for every single day I didn’t get to tell you that. Me and him need to talk, but you and me will get to know each other after that. Okay?” 

Tam didn’t know what to say to that, or if her permission was really something Dad should be seeking. Not knowing what was expected of her, she nodded and hoped that was the correct answer. 

Dad smiled again, before standing and moving over to stand next to Father. A final look at the crowd around them, and he pulled out his communicator. “Kirk to Sulu.” 

“Sulu here.” 

“Ambassador Spock and I need to have a private discussion. Would you beam us to my residence?” 

From the use of Spock’s rank, Tam decided this was an unplanned transportation that would be harder to hide from Starfleet, so Dad was making it sound like official business. 

“You two finally going to talk this out?” Sulu asked, engaging the transporter beam before his question was done, least the participants change their minds. 

There seemed to be a collective sigh of relief at that, as if the entire crew had been waiting for Spock and Jim to get their act together. As much as Tam wanted to know what they had to say to each other, she understood that some of those things might not be appropriate for her to hear. When she spoke, Sinead tried to sound unconcerned, but Tam knew she was worried. 

“Marlena had reservations for eight at that Swilcan restaurant.” 

“Lunch sounds fantastic.” Chekov admitted. 

“Oh, that’s over here.” Scotty offered, before leading the way. 

Bones reached down and took a hand from each twin unexpectedly. He was happy and sad at the same time, but schooling himself to block it from them. Looking behind Bones’ back, Tam caught Sinead’s eye. Sinead only shrugged back, not knowing what was going on with Bones either. 

The reservations were under Marlena Kirk, which Tam thought was cheeky, or at least poorly timed. Scotty kept the conversation going, while Bones messed with his tricorder. They’d ordered and were sipping drinks when Bones made a triumphant sound. 

“Well?” Uhura asked, knowing Bones would have something to say after making a noise like that. 

“After Marlena was arrested, as a member of Starfleet Medical, I was able to scan her for weapons or contagious diseases, so I was only doing my duty.” 

“We understand.” Uhura said, fighting a smile. Chekov and Scotty nodded, but didn’t try and hide their grins. 

“And then Verbena got in the way of my scan, you saw how she was flopping about and wailing.” 

“You’d think her daughter was going to Klingon jail or something.” Chekov muttered, loud enough for everybody to hear. 

“Well now, I submitted my scans to Starfleet, as per protocol, and they sent me back some information, that as the doctor on record I might need to have.” 

“Logical, but get on with it.” Sinead prompted, and then stuck out her tongue at Bones’ stern look. 

“Marlena is not Verbena’s daughter.” The table broke out in mutters, which Bones let go on until he was ready to gesture for silence. “Marlena is Verbena’s clone, so they were able to use Verbena’s old records to fake that Marlena is fully human.” 

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Sinead frowned at Bones while Tam was still attempting to find other possibilities. “Verbena would have to be human to use her old records to prove Marlena was human, but she couldn’t be if her clone was a hybrid.” 

“A modified cloning procedure,” Tam suggested to her sister, “an early attempted at the techniques that created us.” 

“Right on the nose.” Bones said, bumping his forefinger against Tam’s nose as he did so. 

Tam moved her head out of range before asking. “Do you think it was the same doctor that attacked Father?” 

“It is possible, but not necessary.” Bones shook his head at her, dismissing her concerns even as his words proved their validity. “Once someone figures out how to do something, it spreads around so almost anyone can do it. Someone inserted Betazoid genetic structures into Verbena’s clone, and Verbena knew it since she covered it up. Somebody else gets to figure out what this all means; I’m a doctor, not a lawyer.” 

The arrival of the food coincided with some good natured teasing of Bones for mentioning his profession. Scotty started telling them about how Scotland invented modern medicine, which Chekov refuted. Uhura egged them on while delicately eating her meal. 

They were lingering over tea, unsure how much longer to wait for a signal from Dad, when Bones’ comm went off. It was his official Starfleet communicator, set so that everyone could hear what was said. The speakerphone effect was standard, something Chekov had explained when Tam asked him. The theory was that everyone in hearing range would know what was going on, so the person communicating with the ship or Starfleet didn’t have to repeat instructions to group. It did mean that people who weren’t in Starfleet could overhear, but they had codes and protocols in place for those occasions. Now, it meant they all got to hear Sulu’s very professional voice reply to Bones’. 

“Dr. McCoy here.” He’d answered the chirping. 

“Dr. McCoy, your presence has been requested by an admiral. Guess which one?” Sulu asked, even as Bones was caught in a transporter beam. 

Apparently, even in a formal, recorded conversation, Sulu let his personality shine through. He probably still resented not being given his requested assignment. His five year run at the helm of the _USS Ariel_ had ended, and he’d been reassigned to Starbase One, in orbit around Earth. He found the assignment boring, but for all his pushing he’d been there for almost a year. Tam admired his determination as well as his extensive knowledge. 

The silent table around her seemed to be absorbing the fact that Sinead and Tam were now left with a group of trusted people, who nonetheless had never taken charge of the two of them in public before. Sinead noticed them looking between the twins, so she broke the silence again. 

“Can I finally go to the aquarium?” 

“Absolutely!” Scotty enthused, putting his credit chip to the reader. When it chimed acceptance, he was up and leading the way again. “Fantastic place. Tiny, but good. Started out as a tourist thing with performing seals, filled their tanks with water directly from the sea. When the pollution levels got too high, they made their own water filtration system. Turned out to be so good, that they were soon strategically placed all around the world. Old technology, sure, but … “ 

“You’d love to get your hands on it.” Uhura and Chekov chimed in, chorusing back at him. Scotty beamed at them, pleased by this. 

“Well now, you saw the beach from the Old Course, but the aquarium museum is between us and the Golf museum. Just across the street from each other, which is handy.” 

With such a knowledgeable tour guide, the small aquarium took three hours to study, though he did take them for ice cream afterwards. Working on her cone, Sinead told them how she’d met Tam. Knowing this story, Tam thought about how readily Dad had left them with his former crew. 

Marlena had considerable influence over Jim’s mind, though Tam wouldn’t know how much unless Father was able to tell her. For all her control, thought, Marlena hadn’t been able to get between Dad and Sinead, or who Dad thought was Sinead. He had called Sinead his “stars” that night, which Tam had taken for a euphemism. Perhaps she had misunderstood, as she had not had the chance to really know Dad. 

If he had been saying that Sinead was more important to him than being in space, of being a historically significant captain, it was little wonder Marlena was not able to overcome his protection instincts. Had she chosen an admiral with no close ties, she would have succeeded. Perhaps, in the grand scheme of the universe, it wasn’t that big of a deal if a ranch was turned into a golf resort and winery, certainly not up there with destroying a planet. But all the same, Tam was glad Marlena had been stopped, and she would admit to that emotion. 

“Tam?” 

Tam looked up at her name to find Uhura looking at her. “Yes?” 

“You’re not listening, are you?” 

“I will apologize to Sinead, but I was there when we met and have something else to think on.” 

“We know that, but you don’t need to worry. We all know that the only reason your parents have managed to stay mad at each other is because they kept half a planet between them.” Uhura had a reassuring smile, her words making Tam feel better before she even realized she was worried. “Put those two in the same room? They’ll work it out.” 

“I am glad to hear that.” 

Uhura smiled at her, as if realizing just how strange it was for Tam to admit that, instead of trying to be as Vulcan as Grandfather. 

“Excellent. Now, do you want to visit the golf museum?” Uhura asked, getting the attention of the rest of the group. “I promise it’s not as boring as watching other people play.” 

Scotty made a noise of protest, which he cut off early to shrug and nod. Still, they finished that museum in an hour and a half, and were walking the beach when Uhura’s communicator chirped. 

“Uhura.” 

“The honor of your presence has been requested to help with an error in communication. I have even been granted special permission to beam over any people you may be meeting with at this time.” 

“Intriguing.” Uhura said, but rolled her eyes. “Five to beam up.” 

Moments later, they were in a very familiar sitting room. Last night, this room had been the setting of some of the most boring small talk imaginable. Now, wolf whistles and giggles found a target as Jim paraded around in fresh clothes and recently brushed hair. The smug grin on his face was something Tam had never seen him wear. Father looked as impeccable as always, and as he’d been wearing an outer robe in Scotland, nobody could say for sure if he had changed. 

Spock was holding a tray of prepared drinks, following Jim around as Jim served everybody. Bones was draped across a chair in the corner as if he didn’t have any bones in his body, except the ones holding his drink. Tam was unsure why his drink had a leaf sticking out of it, or why he looked so contented and relaxed. Whatever worry he’d had must have been resolved very satisfactorily. Bones only offered a grin when he saw the girls, which faded a little as Sarek beamed into the room. 

“Father, you honor us with your presence.” Spock said as he stepped up to hand a drink to Sarek. 

“Mr. Sulu is very persuasive, though I will admit to curiosity at being summoned.” 

“All will be explained in due time.” Dad countered, his grin not fading at the sharp look Sarek sent him. 

“At least you timed it near the end of my shift.” Sulu muttered, beaming down into the middle of that conversation. “If anybody comes after me for doctoring my duty log, you’re pulling my butt out of the fire.” 

“Supper will be ready in an hour.” Jim announced over the small talk of his guests. “But we’ve got plenty to talk about in the meantime.” 

“Damn right.” Uhura muttered behind her brightly colored and layered drink. 

“Business first.” Admiral Kirk stated. “After Marcus, Starfleet was seen as too militaristic for the more peaceful species of the Federation. I had many reasons for taking the promotion to admiral, but one of these was to change that image. I wanted to make sure our five year mission was not the last of its kind, as Starfleet became about exploration again. I’ve been working on this idea for years, getting a new ship built for that purpose.” 

“You were going to leave me here with Marlena!” Sinead was on her feet, anger pouring off of her as she yelled at Dad, seeing a connection Tam didn’t see. 

“No, never.” Dad responded as he closed the distance between them. “Absolutely not. I could never put you through what happened to me. The new Enterprise is kitted out to hold a thousand people, including crew, support staff, and immediate family." 

“We get to go into space?” Sinead’s voice had lost all the anger, dissolving into a wondrous tone. 

“You’ll love it.” Dad told her with a knowing grin, before he looked up to speak to the rest of them. "This is an experiment, so I figure we will get constant milk runs because space is dangerous." 

Here, they all turned to look at Bones, only to realize he was asleep, drink still clutched in his hand. 

Jim grinned at the sight, a fond, loving grin that Tam could feel. 

"Now, to convince people to put their families on a starship, I came up with some incentives. Some of you may have noticed that your requested assignments were not given to you." 

Now they all turned to look at Sulu, who crossed his arms and stared back. 

"Yes, it's my fault. I was holding you, all of you, in reserve, to offer the best possible command crew on this ship of families." Jim shrugged at Sulu. "I don't regret it, as I was planning on having at least one of my kids on that ship." 

"She better have a Scotty approved engine, and I get to approve the nav system." Sulu demanded, but the grins of the others showed this was confirmation that he was going. 

"Admiral, if I may make a query?" Father asked from near Bones. He'd managed to extract the drink from the sleeping surgeon's grip. 

"Ambassador, Starfleet has accepted that I will be steeping down in rank in order to command this ship. I will be captain of the Enterprise to prove Starfleet's faith in the idea, if that answers your query." 

"Indeed it does." 

Father and Dad locked eyes again, and the wave of understanding and peace that rushed between them caused Bones to smile in his sleep. Tam only noticed because Father was standing next to Bones, and the traveling emotion was not necessarily the cause of Bones' smile, but it did not seem likely it was a coincidence. 

"I think that's all the business, so now to the personal.” Dad tossed back his drink, something with a pleasing color but atrocious smell. From the face he made while drinking it and after, it didn't seem to taste much better than it smelled. "Spock assures me there was no damage to my brain, from what Marlena was doing. Bones had some charming things to say about that." 

Sulu laughed while Chekov only snickered. Uhura sent a fond glance at Bones, while Scotty sent his fond glance to Uhura's turned head. 

"I, or we, still have to deal with any legal things that might come up. I remember missing Marlena whenever she wasn't around, way out of proportion to how much I enjoyed her company. The worst part is that I had a bunch of really good people I trusted suggesting I take it slow with her, and I was brain damaged enough to ignore them." 

"Here, here," Muttered Uhura, sharing an amused glance with Spock. None of the full humans responded to her words, so clearly she meant them for Spock's ears. 

"At some point, I decided to marry her and leave her behind. To take care of the ranch and stuff, or so I thought, but that wasn't really a plan I’d come up with. I don't leave behind the ones I love. Usually, they have to leave me before I get the hint." 

Spock was suddenly beside Jim, handing him Bones' drink. They didn't touch, but Jim seemed reassured by his presence. Jim gave Spock a soft smile before sipping at Bones' drink. 

"I had planned a trip to London. I thought that even if I couldn't convince the Ambassador's Aide to skip off into space with me, maybe it was time to tell the girls the truth. I didn't tell Marlena why I wanted to go to Federation Headquarters, and I never grew the backbone to actually go." 

"I cannot promise that I would have been receptive, had you visited me at work." Spock admitted. "I was unaware of the anger I still harbored, until it emerged earlier today." 

Tam felt the regret between them, and felt when it was soothed over with loving forgiveness. 

"When does the Enterprise launch?" Grandfather asked, as if oblivious to the emotions floating around the room. 

"January first, old Earth calendar. Start the new year off right." Jim answered swiftly. 

"Will there be educators on board?" 

"Yes, sir, the best we can offer. Trained, experienced teachers who are spouses of Starfleet officers or willing to join Starfleet for a chance to go into space." Jim looked from Sarek to the crew members. "Supplemented by highly educated and experienced officers who will be encouraged to volunteer and teach occasional lessons." 

"I can look after my granddaughter's property while you are gone. We can discuss details after you have allowed the bond to settle." 

"Bond?" Sinead was bouncing, grinning to split her face. "You let Father bond you and you didn't tell us?" 

Her words were angry, but said in a happy tone. Tam couldn't figure out her sister in that moment, so she thought about something she could understand. The feelings she'd sensed had seemed strong and directional. Even Father would be subject to learning to control himself in the wake of a newly formed bond. But why did a sleeping, psi-null human grin at them? Did Bones feel them too? 

"Did you bond with Bones as well?" Tam asked before the question was fully formed in her mind. 

Dad blushed, grinned and nodded. Sinead put both hands to her mouth as if to stifle any noise, but they all still heard her almost hysterical laughter. 

"Fortunately, the cabin assignments on the Enterprise will be based on family size and need, instead of rank. Still, I don't think they had three husbands and two kids in mind when they designed the quarters." As Jim finished talking, he was scooping up Sinead, who'd thrown herself at him in her excitement. 

“We’re going to be a family in space! This is amazing, I’ll miss the horses but space!” Sinead could have gone on for a while, but Tam’s stillness seemed to catch the attention. 

“T’Amanda, do you want to stay on Earth?” Father asked softly, though everyone heard him. 

“No.” Tam could answer that easily enough. “I would very much like to be a family in space. But I don’t understand. You and Dad have already separated once, but after a few hours all is forgiven? Bones was so worried, sure that you would both hate him, but now he is bonded to you both?” 

“Tam,” Father started but there was a long pause. Father was never at a loss for words, yet he did not seem sure what to say here. 

“I’ve got this.” Bones muttered, trying to wiggle out of his chair. After a moment, he gave that up and gestured for Tam. “You got young bones, you come over here.” 

Tam complied, easily sliding off the couch to go stand before Bones. 

“It’s going to be fine, now let me tell you how I know that.” Bones smiled at her, knowing she was going to protest such a glib answer as ‘fine’. “Jim explained that he was trying to give his family everything he thought they needed. He wanted to prove he was worthy of bonding to Spock. But, Jim’s an idiot, and he thought his worth was tied up in his rank. He was so determined to be an admiral, he forgot to be himself, and took it out on Spock. Spock reacted logically, because that’s what he does. The rest of us never thought it would go this far, or last this long.” 

“I can get used to the idea that they found forgiveness and completion enough to bond.” Tam nodded at that, though she knew she’d have to think about it further. “Perhaps it is Marlena’s influence, but I fear manipulation was involved.” 

“Darling, I know you don’t like it, but this isn’t one of those things that can be explained by logic.” Bones smiled at her, knowing Tam’s question better than she was able to articulate. “Your fathers love each other very much, they just made some mistakes. I made mistakes too, you know that. I was sure they’d get together and some of my mistakes would come to light, and I’d be kicked out of you lives.” 

“Leonard’s mistakes,” Father began, “were only mistakes in his eyes. Jim and I consider them to be signs of his compassionate nature. After we beamed here, we quickly began to argue. Jim suggested we needed Bones around to interpret what we meant verses what we said.” 

“It was a just a thing to say,” Dad took over the narrative, “but after I said it, we started talking about how true it was. Then we had to convince Bones it would work.” 

“Vulcan boy tried to seduce me with talk about the stability of a three legged stool.” Bones griped, but his tone quickly shifted. “Once I understood what they were offering, that I could be with all the people I loved, including you and your sister, I accepted. So, yes, Tam, there will be work ahead and we’ll all have to learn to communicate better. But the one thing you must never doubt is that your Dad loves you more than space, your Father loves you more than logic, and I love you more than a safe life on a quiet planet.” 

Tam took a moment to think, to notice the love that was filling her mind, pouring over from the newly formed bond. Practical considerations would be dealt with, because there was enough love here to change the universe. Jumping into Bones’ lap, Tam initiated a hug for the first time in her memory. They were going to be a loving family in space, and nothing could stop them. 

**J <3S <3B<3J**

**Author's Note:**

> [Buy Me a Coffee?](https://ko-fi.com/W7W35853)


End file.
